Painting Outlines
by acidmudblood
Summary: Nico di Angelo finds no interest in talking to people, especially when it's unnecessary. Life's not easy when you're the quiet kid with no friends who gets bullied all the time. But it's even worse when you figure that you have a crush on your History teacher who attempts to befriend you out of your misery. PJO/HOO high school au featuring Teacher!Leo and Student!Nico.
1. Author's Note

So, as everyone knows, this is merely a work of fan fiction, and Rick Riordan The Brilliant owns everything that's got to do with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and Heroes of Olympus. Round of applause for his fantastic ideas, yay! This story is rated T for language and suggestive themes. Main ship would be Nico and Leo, but there are like a shitload of other stuff like Percy/Nico, Percy/Annabeth, Percy/Luke, Thalia/Luke, Frank/Hazel, Jason/Piper, ect. both canon and non canon ships. All the characters in this fanfic are characters from both the PJO and HOO series. High school AU set in the year 2013. Multi chapter, and still in progress. Number of chapters planned are probably around 10, more or less. It depends on the progress. (Expect angst towards the ending.) This is also a story about developing character and surviving in high school, but with romance thrown in, obviously. I'll give my best effort to update everyday, or if possible, more than once in a day. Some of the characters might be out of character, but it's all a contribution to the plot. Oh and anyway, I decided to write this student-teacher AU fic because of a Tumblr post by nicothenecromancer which I saw the other day, and well, I just thought, that _**needed**_ to happen.


	2. Chapter 1

"You sure you've got enough money for lunch?" Bianca asked, her hands attempting to straighten the necktie on Nico's collar. He hastily pulled away, groaning.

"Bianca, I'm fine, alright?"

"Well, you never look like you are! You hardly ever act like you're happy, Nico, especially when it comes to school!"

"Oh god, not again! I'm not in the mood for your dumb lectures," he sighed, unbuckling his seatbelt and attempting to open the door.

"Okay, okay, fine, whatever. But you can't keep acting like this. Talk things out with your friends or something, okay?"

She stared at him with a look of concern.

"I don't have any friends," he muttered, slinging his bag over his shoulder before slamming the door shut and walking away.

Bianca exhaled sharply, watching the outline of her 16 year old brother dissolve into the crowd of students entering the school, before driving off disappointedly.

Nico walked in the hallway, heart filling with dread, eyes scanning the crowd for the faces he loathed. Opening up his locker, he immediately took a look at today's schedule. First period- History. Second period- History, again. Which meant two periods of history to start off the morning. He fought back a smile and felt his cheeks grow hot, quickly turning to face the inside of his locker, afraid that people might be noticing.

History lessons. It was mainly the only thing he did not loathe, and actually looked forward to at school. No one actually knew this, but ever since this year, he's been having sort of a crush on his history teacher, Professor Valdez. Professor Valdez was a new teacher here, and a fresh graduate from university who was intelligent as hell. The guy went to college at _fifteen_, and now he 's already got a PhD.

When school reopened after summer a month ago, all the students were surprised to see a new face in the staff room. Thankfully for them, Professor Valdez was undoubtedly the kindest and most cheerful and outgoing teacher they've ever had. He was actually one of those teachers who _didn't_ sound lame when attempting a joke.

During history, Nico always tried his best to focus on the actual lesson, instead of constantly admiring Professor Valdez's physical attractiveneass, but sometimes those attempts would be useless. Often, he would imagine pulling Professor Valdez by his tie, and making out with him. Or having private tutoring sessions with Professor Valdez where they would end up kissing each other.

It was such a distraction, and sometimes he felt so guilty because every time he looked at the man's face after those vivid imaginations, he felt ashamed to have ever even existed. He'd end up sketching something in his notebook instead of paying attention, because every time his teacher looked him, he could swear that he felt his entire face turn red.

It was embarrassing. Nico's classmates had frequently teased him for acting nervous every time their history teacher had talked to him, or whenever he got called to read out from the text book, and his legs would start feeling as if they were nonexistent, while his words usually came out in awkward stutters.

No one knew that Nico was queer Only his sister did, but no one else. Nico didn't have a family after his mother died about a year ago, and ever since then, he'd been living alone with Bianca, who was only about 2 years older than him. She lived a tough life, balancing between being a top student in college, and working daily night shifts at he local grocery store merely to put food on the table. What Nico and Bianca had weren't much, but it was enough to provide. At the very least, they had each other.

Nico didn't really have friends, either. Well, there were the occasional "hi" and "hey, Nico" from people like Luke Castellan or Hazel Levesque and her boyfriend, Frank, but that was it. Luke Castellan was one of those popular seniors from the football team who went to parties every week, and he had admitted to being bisexual last year. People often speculated that Luke was interested in Percy Jackson, even though he was currently dating Thalia Grace, but no one really knew for sure. Not that Nico cared, but being acknowledged by a popular kid like that, who was also somewhat queer, at least made Nico feel slightly better about himself.

He preferred being alone, isolating himself in the library while the other kids went out for lunch. Sometimes he noticed Professor Valdez in the library, occasionally glancing at him, probably wondering why he wasn't eating lunch with the other kids, but even if he did, he never said anything. Sometimes he felt dumb and regretful for having a crush on a teacher, but Professor Valdez was still so young, about twenty two years old, which was only six years older than Nico, so it probably didn't sound too creepy or pedophilic anyway.

So anyway, Nico was a loner. A loner, and a victim of constant harassment. Sometimes kids in school liked to tease him, and he had grown accustomed to that, which was the main reason why he hated everyone, including himself. But he had found himself comfortable with the way things were right now, isolation and silence, which was better off like that anyway. He couldn't actually see himself as sociable and outgoing, and even if that was ever a possibility, it would mean stepping out of his comfort zone, which he obviously was never going to do so.

"di Angelo, what you smiling about, buddy?"

Nico realized that he was caught off guard, and immediately returned to his senses. He flushed, accidentally staggering backwards into his locker and bumping his shoulder against it. People turned to look at him.

In front of him stood Percy Jackson, with a smug smirk on his face. Percy Jackson, also known as the school heartthrob, and the number one asshole who made his life a living hell. Percy was among the few juniors who made it on the school's football team, and had a reputation for dating more girls than he could count with fingers on both hands back in middle school. But all that changed when he started dating Annabeth Chase last year, whom he was actually loyal and genuinely in love with. Or so, they say.

At first it was a mystery to everyone as how the smartest kid in the grade who buried herself in books and never wore short skirts managed to get "Bad Boy Percy" to date her, but now people seemed to think that they actually looked "cute" with each other.

The students in this school always seemed to amuse Nico, not necessarily in a good way, because all they cared about were mostly who was dating who, and which 40 year old female teacher would look the hottest in a bikini, or which PE teacher had the nicest abs.

Although Percy was an asshole, and dating Annabeth the Kind, it didn't stop girls, and guys, even, from fancying him. He was handsome, Nico honestly couldn't deny, with his glistening green eyes and messy black hair, and even the cologne he wore would leave you thinking about it for hours. When he wasn't being a rude and arrogant prick, his outgoing personality was actually something that anyone couldn't help liking, including Nico.

Nico had had a crush on Percy since he was ten, but that was back before he was this much of an asshole. Sure, Percy had been annoying and arrogant since anyone could ever remember, but back in middle school, he hardly ever made fun of people. His first year of high school really did change him, along with many other people as well. But Nico remained the same, if not, more quiet and antisocial.

Percy laughed at him. "Did I startle you? I'm really sorry about that." "Fuck off, Jackson," Nico sighed, shoving a couple of books into his chest before slamming the locker shut and walking away, his head hanging low, avoiding the gazes of the students around him.

"I wasn't even being rude! I just wanted to tell you that you look cute today with your necktie and shirt!" Percy called out, half laughing. Nico noticed a couple of students snickering about it and eyeing him with amusement, but he ignored them, storming off into his history classroom. _Welcome to the daily life of Nico Di Angelo_, he thought to himself.

The classroom was empty when he entered, except for Professor Valdez who was siat at the front desk, reading a book. Nico hastily placed his books on the table in the front row and sat down, rolling up his sleeves. Professor Valdez, noticing the first student entering the class, looked up from his book, and offered Nico a smile. Nico flushed, half smiling, his eyes immediately darting to the floor before he could embarrass himself further.

"That's honestly the first time I've seen you smile, Mr Di Angelo," Professor Valdez said.

"Yeah well, I don't do it much," he replied dryly, trying to sound casual. This was the closest thing to an actual conversation that he's ever had with the guy. If Professor Valdez enjoys striking up conversations with students who enter class early, then Nico agreed to himself to make an effort to show up as early as possible.

"You can't just always stay quiet and isolate yourself from people, you know," Professor Valdez sighed, closing his book and fixing his gaze on Nico alone.

Nico knew that at this point, it was rude to not make eye contact, so he forced himself to face him.

"Why do you do that? Why don't you make an effort to befriend people?" Professor Valdez asked again, though his tone wasn't pressing. He simply sounded amused.

"I hate everyone here," was all Nico said.

Professor Valdez let out a laugh.

"I can see that. Are they that much of a pain in the ass to you?"

Nico eyed him for a moment, fighting back a smile. "Trust me, you don't wanna know."

"Well, maybe I do," Professor Valdez said.

At that, Nico almost lost it, and he felt intimidated as hell to even continue talking to him.

"Do you always make an attempt to invade the personal lives of the students who enter your class early?" was all he said. He regretted it immediately, because he knew he sounded rude, and he honestly didn't mean to push his favourite teacher away from him, but that was all he was capable of.

Professor Valdez laughed again. Nico's heart lightened in relief, at least his teacher's response wasn't as bad as he expected.

"Personal lives? Dear god, no! Well, I was just wondering, Nico. Because you're-," he paused to suck in a breath.

"Nico, I've been wanting to approach you for quite a while now, okay?"

Nico shook his head, rolling his eyes. He acted like he was annoyed to his limits and didn't give a crap, when in truth, his heart was drumming so hard against his chest, he was afraid he might puke.

"Please, don't be shy to talk to me whenever you want to."

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you talk like this to every single student who enters your class early?" Nico hissed, faking his anger. When the words left his lips, he immediately felt like stabbing himself in the chest. He knew that Professor Valdez was only attempting to be friendly, but he was way too intimidated to come back with a suitable response.

"Well," Professor Valdez said, getting up from his chair and noticing that more of the students were starting to enter the classroom. He walked over to Nico's desk and stared down right at him. "I'm concerned, and I care about you, Nico Di Angelo. Believe me, I really do," he smiled, before turning away, walking towards the whiteboard.

Nico's face turned crimson, and he felt like he was combusting into flames. He felt like he had been slapped in the face in front of a crowd of people. He didn't like what Professor Valdez was doing to him, it was driving him insane. He hated even looking at the guy, because it would make his heart beat so fast, yet now his teacher was making an attempt to _befriend_ him. He needed to stop this as soon as possible, before something embarrassing happened.

Most of the students were already in the class now, and Professor Valdez was already writing down a couple of things on the white board. He heard the door shut at the back of the classroom, a sign that all the students were already in. "Good morning, class," he said, turning around to face the students and as he capped his whiteboard marker.


	3. Chapter 2

Professor Valdez had informed the students that they were to present their essays on the American Civil War in front of the class today. Immediately after he said that, the students started to groan, mainly because most of them hadn't completed their homework yet.

"Professor Valdez, what if we haven't finished our essays yet?" a girl called out from the back of the classroom. "I don't care, I've given all of you a week to finish it. If your name gets called out and you aren't ready to present it yet, I'll lower your grade."

"Aw, come _on_!" Percy yelled, rolling his eyes. Murmurs of protest followed, urging Professor Valdez to give them another chance. "Class!" he raised his voice, silencing the students. "I have told you about this since last week. My decision is final."

Nico sat quietly in his seat, staring in amusement at the other kids. Thankfully for him, he had finished writing his essay about three days ago. Sure, Nico wasn't very friendly with the teachers, but he always completed his homework on time. No one actually paid attention, except for the teachers, but Nico was actually one of the smartest kids around.

Annabeth Chase was seated right behind Nico, her essay already set on her desk in case she got called out. Her eyes scanned the classroom, and she noticed that only a few students had actually completed their essays, her boyfriend undoubtedly_ not_ one of them.

She tapped her pen on the back of Nico's chair, and he turned around to look at her. "You finished yours yet?" she asked him. He nodded. "Typical," she said, before looking away. Annabeth had never admitted this to anyone, but she actually always felt sorry for Nico, although some part of her admired him. She admired him for being intelligent and not making it obvious, and she admired him for his disinterest in poking his nose in other people's business.

Deep down, she had always wanted to befriend him, but the guy gave off a cold vibe everywhere he went, she actually felt too intimidated to strike up a cheerful conversation with him.

Professor Valdez cleared his throat, and the noise in the classroom immediately died down. "Alright," he said. "So, the first one to present would be…" he paused, taking a closer look at the student name list in his hands. "Mr. Ethan Nakamura."

All the students turned their heads, eyes fixed on Ethan who was getting up from his chair to stand at his desk. "Uh, Professor, I, I've only written half of it," he said somberly. Professor Valdez rolled his eyes. "Oh, for god's sake." A few students snickered at Ethan, before he sat down.

"Fine then. Ah, let's see… Miss Annabeth Chase," he called out. Annabeth stood up proudly, and walked towards the front of the classroom, smiling. She cleared her throat and began, "alright, so, as we all know, the American Civil War was back in the 1860s."

The class had their eyes fixed on her as she spoke for about five minutes out there. She carried herself with such pride and confidence; it was actually amusing to watch. Well, at least for Nico it was, because he knew that he could never carry _himself _like that. When she finished and made her way back to her seat, the classroom burst into a round of applause.

"Alright, that was a very good presentation. A plus for you Miss Chase. Next, um…" Professor Valdez paused, glancing at Nico, making him blush, and they locked gazes, before his eyes darted back to the name list two seconds later. "Mr. Nico di Angelo."

As soon as Nico got up from his chair, he immediately heard chuckles and snickers from the class. He shyly made his way to the front of the classroom, before glancing at his teacher. "Go on, Nico," Professor Valdez nodded.

Nico stared at his paper and took a deep breath before beginning to speak. With his heart hammering against his chest, and the fear of his knees melting to the floor, he tried his best to sound as clear and casual as possible. Nico had a deep, masculine voice, though he hardly ever spoke loud enough in front of people because he was shy.

When he was done, he glanced nervously at his teacher for reassurance, before walking back to his seat. Most of the students didn't seem to care and weren't paying attention at all when Nico read out his essay, but Percy started to clap as loudly as possible with sarcastic enthusiasm, making a few of the students snicker while a few others groaned in annoyance.

"Did you ditch the usual emo look to look special for today's presentation?" Percy called out.

"Mr. Jackson," Professor Valdez said sternly, glaring at Percy.

Nico rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"Don't you think he looks cute today, Professor?"

"Mr. Jackson,_ please."_

"Who did you dress up for?"

"Mr Jackson if you-" but Professor Valdez never had the chance to continue.

"For the love of god, shut up! Shut up, Percy Jackson, shut the fuck up!" Nico yelled, too much consumed by annoyance and anger that he had lost control in front of everyone.

He regretted it immediately, and had no idea how that had just happened. All he knew was that he felt like dying there and then.

"Mr di Angelo, no foul language in class!" Professor Valdez yelled.

At that, the entire class fell silent. Some sat there, open mouthed, too shocked by what just happened to say anything else. Everyone had their eyes fixed on Percy and Nico, and Professor Valdez. Everyone well knew that Percy was indeed an asshole, but Nico had never fought back, especially not in front of an entire classroom full of students and a teacher watching them.

Percy sat there, open mouthed and consumed by shock for a few short moments before he started to laugh.

"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down, kid."

Nico had began to blush so badly, he couldn't take it anymore. He put down his paper on his desk before rushing towards the door, making an exit because he wasn't sure of what else to do.

"Someone get him to come back here right now," Professor Valdez sighed, said sternly, before glancing at Percy. A red headed girl who sat near the door stood up and walked out of the classroom.

"Where are your manners, Mr. Jackson? You do know that bullying is wrong, don't you?" Percy remained silent.

Moments after, Nico walked in with the red headed girl, his face crimson and his eyes fuelled with rage and embarrassment.

"And you, Mr di Angelo. Where are your manners, using foul language in the classroom and just walking out like that?" Professor Valdez turned to him, disappointed.

Nico didn't say anything. He felt the insides of his cheeks contract and his eyes stinging, tears welling up behind them. Even if he were to speak, he would choke the words out at the brink of tears.

"Both of you, enough! This should stop immediately. Especially for you, Mr Jackson!" Professor Valdez continued, eyeing the both of them.

At that, the bell suddenly rang, and muffled murmurs from the class began to surface again.

"Class dismissed," Professor Valdez sighed.

"But _not _for the both of you," he immediately glared at Percy and Nico who had already turned around wanting to make an attempt for the door.

The students filed out of the classroom as Professor Valdez continued to lecture them.

"Both of you will be given an hour's worth of detention for today."

Percy opened his mouth to protest, but he changed his mind a second after that.

"Not only that, but, to loosen things up between the both of you, you're going to have to pair up to do an assignment later on."

"What?!" Percy and Nico both hissed at the same time.

"You heard me," Professor Valdez sighed.

"But, you can't do that! No! Why would you ever do that?!" Percy cried.

"Both of you need to learn how to stop hating each other!" Professor Valdez hissed.

"Professor, please-," Nico pleaded.

"My decision is final."

Nico and Percy exchanged glares with each other, sighing.

"Mr. Jackson, if I ever hear stories of you bullying the kids around here you're going to be punished with something worse than a detention."

"Yes, Professor Valdez," Percy sighed, rolling his eyes.

"You're free to go now."

Percy nodded and made his way for the door, Nico about to follow, before Professor Valdez called out, "Nico, wait here."

He sighed impatiently, turning to look back at his teacher.

This day was already worse than he had expected it to be, and it had barely even started.

"Tell me, Nico-" Professor Valdez said, but he was cut off by Nico's sigh.

"Professor Valdez I'm fine, just leave me-,"

"Just call me Leo," he insisted.

Nico looked up at him and exhaled sharply.

"Look, _Leo,_ I don't wanna talk to anyone, alright? And I get that you're a concerned and whatever crap, but seriously, leave me _alone_," he hissed, before storming towards the door.

As Nico yanked the doorknob furiously, Leo called out, "alright, _fine._ Whatever you say. But if ever you think you actually _need a_ _friend_, Nico, I'll always be in the library during lunch time."

Nico sighed, looking back at his teacher before walking out of the door, letting it slam shut on its own.

* * *

The day went by as dry and dreadful as every other day of his life, ignoring what happened during History that morning, he was thankful that nothing else embarrassing had happened.

During lunch, he went for his usual routine, heading to the library, planning to work on his homework, avoiding people. While Nico was writing down a few lines in his book, he noticed that Professor Valdez, or _Leo_, as the guy preferred, had entered the library and was making his way towards a table near the Science and Humanities section.

Nico's heart hammered rapidly against his chest, like it always did whenever he caught sight of his teacher. What Leo had said to him this morning had been droning on in his head for hours. He contemplated whether to get up and talk to Leo or not, not wanting to make a fool of himself again.

Sure, he had embarrassed himself big time during History that morning, but he also knew that Leo was actually genuine in attempting to befriend him. He sat there, trying to concentrate on his homework, but he couldn't because his mind kept urging him to do something he considered stupid, yet he ached for it all the same.

* * *

Leo Valdez was sat at the table near the Science and Humanities shelves, working on one of the student papers. All day, he had been thinking about Nico. There was really something different about the boy. He didn't know why, but he liked him. Though he had attempted to befriend Nico, the boy pushed him away. He had expected that to happen, honestly. Nico pushed everyone away. But even though the chances were unlikely, he kept hoping that Nico might accept his friendly attempts and approach him. He really wanted to get to know that boy better, and be friends with him, if not, even more than friends, but he tried to push the thought away.

Being attracted to a 16 year old student sounded creepy, and pathetic, especially when you're a teacher. But it was hard for Leo to ignore those feelings. Ever since he first started teaching here, he had always noticed that there was something different about Nico.

Staring at his book and fidgeting with his pen, trying to bring his mind back to his work, he suddenly heard a familiar voice that made him forget why he was even here in the first place.

"Um, hi, Professor Valdez. I, I just wanted to talk to you."

Leo Valdez looked up from his work and found himself staring at the shy and nervous, but slightly smiling face of Nico di Angelo.


	4. Chapter 3

"Oh, hello Nico, take a seat," Leo flashed a warm smile in return. He tried not to seem too overwhelmed. And after all, he didn't want to creep the boy out by even going close to actually _flirting_ with him. It was already a miracle enough that Nico had approached him, and scaring him away would do no good. And come on, if anyone from school found out that Leo's attempt in befriending Nico was because he was actually _attracted_ to him, it would land the both of them in serious trouble.

Nico nodded shyly and sat down at the opposite side of the table, placing his hands on the surface, and his fingers fidgeting nervously. He looked up at Leo nervously, before looking away again. _This is never going to work, Oh God, I'm making a huge fool of myself already_, he thought, trying so hard not to blush.

"You don't have to act nervous and uncomfortable, you know," Leo said.

"Fine." Nico looked at him and frowned.

"So, are we going to do this whole, _friendship _thing?" Leo asked, half laughing. "

I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure how to do that," was Nico's response.

"Well, I'll teach you."

Nico nodded.

"So-," Leo began, but Nico cut him off.

"Professor Valdez, er, look, I really don't want to do this whole, "assignment" thing with Percy, please? Even though I don't even know what you've planned for us. But having to go to detention with him later is already depressing enough."

Leo sighed, pausing to think for a while, before he finally spoke.

"I know you hate him, but just give this a shot, okay? Believe me, my plan is going to work."

Nico rolled his eyes.

"Oh, so you've already made _plans_? Honestly? I don't even know what's wrong with you. You suddenly strike up a conversation with me out of the blue, and then you pair me up for an assignment I don't even know of with the guy I hate the most in the entire universe, before offering me your _friendship_? Really now?"

Leo only laughed.

"What's so funny about that? Tell me!" Nico was frustrated.

Frustrated with the world, and frustrated with Leo Valdez, especially. But here he was, telling off the guy in a shallow attempt to befriend him. He tried so hard not to stammer, and was almost shaking when he spoke. He swore he could felt his face turn hot.

He realized that he really hated being in Leo's presence, mainly because he didn't want to embarrass himself. But here he was, in a futile attempt, desiring to take every opportunity to get as close to Leo Valdez as possible. He figured he was a paradox. He was just so confused with his own emotions. Sentiment is _so weird_, he thought. Especially when it could make your guts churn and brain go temporarily dysfunctional just because of _one_ person.

Leo laughed again. "Nico, calm down, okay? There's no reason to be nervous or intimidated. Your face is _red_."

Nico sighed, burying his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll leave now, I'm really sorry," he stammered, staggering up from his chair, looking away, trying to get Leo to not look at his face.

At that, Leo immediately stood up and grabbed his arm before he could walk away any further.

"No, no, please don't," Nico said, trying to push him away.

"Nico, look at me," Leo sighed. "Nico, you don't have to be afraid of anything."

Leo let go of his arm, Nico turning to face him. His face was strained, and it was obvious that he was at the verge of tears. Leo knew that if one of them made one more wrong move, the guy would break down immediately.

"You don't have to be afraid."

Leo didn't know what he was doing, but he figured that he sort of opened up his arms, offering a hug, and Nico had accepted it. Nico pressed his face into Leo's shoulder, embracing the comfort, as Leo gently stroked his back. "It's alright," he whispered.

So, Leo Valdez stood in the school library, hugging a distraught Nico di Angelo, a guy he barely even knew. Although, that was about to change soon, he had a feeling, and he was pretty sure that Nico did, too. Neither of them knew why they stood there like that for so long, but somehow it just felt right.

Nico finally pulled away, blushing. "I'm sor-," but he was cut off.

"Look, buddy. Rule number one, _never ever_ be intimidated, and _never ever_ apologize for it, alright?" Leo said.

"Fine. What else?"

"Rule number two, call me Professor Valdez in class, but Leo when no one's around." Nico scoffed at that, but said nothing nevertheless.

"Okay, so, we should sit down and try to get to know each other."

Nico nodded, and they headed back to the table.

"So," Leo began. "Let's just be as honest as possible. Go on, Nico." Nico hesitated for a moment. Honest as possible? _Okay, so to be honest, Leo Valdez, I don't even know why I feel like this but you're actually really cute and hot for a teacher, and I wanted to kiss you right there and then when we hugged. Oh god, I wish you would hug me again, plus, I'm intimidated as hell and trying not to act embarrassing, not because you're an intimidating person, see, but because I've got this huge ass crush on you and I just really like your dumb face and dumb messy hair and dumb smile and I know I sound stupid for saying this but I think we should make out and have hot kinky sex even though I'm only sixteen and you're six years older than me. I feel guilty every time I look at your face after thinking about it, but it never stops me from not thinking about it again. And well, you're a fucking teacher, which means that none of this is ever gonna happen and I don't even know why I bother to frustrate myself even further by making an attempt to be friends with you. _Well, that was obviously never going to happen unless he wanted to ruin whatever they've just started, and make the guy think he was a freak.

Nico sighed. "Well, um, I like, music. And I like art. And I like to avoid people," was all he said.

Leo laughed.

"Why do you keep laughing?" Nico said, trying not to smile.

"Nothing, you're, you're just," he paused. _Cute_, was the word that he was about to say, but he knew his limits.

"I'm just _what?_"

"Interesting," Leo said.

Nico rolled his eyes again.

"Well, _someone, for once,_ actually finds me interesting." "

I bet you like stuff like, Black Sabbath, am I right?" Leo laughed again.

Nico knit his eyebrows, frowning. "Why the hell do you care?"

Leo was grinning. "You know, you just seem like the type."

Nico shook his head, holding back his laughter. "

AC DC, Metallica, Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden, and maybe some new stuff like M-"

"Okay, shut the _fuck_ up," Nico laughed, in embarrasment, burying his face in his hands. "

"Manners, Mr di Angelo, I'm still your teacher."

Nico looked at Leo, smiling shyly, his cheeks flushing. He didn't really know what to say, but he actually felt as though the awkwardness had sligjhtly loosened up, and it wasn't so uncomfortable anymore.

"Wow. I can't believe I made _you_ laugh," Leo said. "

I mean, I make a lot of people laugh, but, making Nico di Angelo laugh, that's something new."

Nico didn't know why, but the words slipped out of his mouth. "Maybe you should be proud of yourself."

"You bet I am."

"So, what about you?" Nico asked.

"What about me?"

"Yeah."

Leo paused to think.

"Well, I like engineering and um, mechanical things, you know, machines, and tools and stuff."

"Why'd you become a History teacher then?"

Leo sucked in a breath.

"Well, I like explaining things to people, making them understand. Everything has its own way of working."

"You could've still been like, a shop class teacher or something," Nico said, genuinely curious as to why, out of everything, Leo chose to become a History teacher.

Leo frowned.

"Actually, it's more than just that. I've always liked History. But I don't know, I like telling stories to people. And I like seeing people understand them. There's no point in telling them every single detail, and explaining, when at the end of the day they still don't know how it works. I'm not just talking about machines."

Nico raised an eyebrow.

"I'm talking about life, Nico. Everything, and I mean literally everything, works in its own way. It's fascinating. Machines are one thing, but people, animals, nature. Even stories, like books, or the plot line of a TV show, and even history itself. They all have like, invisible control buttons and gears all over that make them do what they do. And I think that sometimes people overlook that."

Nico frowned, and Leo laughed at his expression

"Oh god, that was too deep, too deep, too freaking deep."

"That didn't really make sense, or explain anything, but thanks," Nico said.

"Honestly, I barely understood half of what I just said," Leo laughed.

"People are boring. That's why I stay away from them. But, you're, _interesting_, for a person. I never thought I'd say that, but you are," Nico smiled without humor.

"And you're," he paused. "Interesting, too," Leo smiled genuinely.

"Professor Valdez," came a voice. Leo and Nico simultaneously looked up at the figure that was standing at the edge of their table. "Oh, hello Jason," Leo said warmly. Jason opened his mouth to speak, but he paused, eyeing Nico curiously, probably wondering why the hell he was sitting there, having a casual conversation with a teacher when he barely even spoke to people.

Nico found Jason Grace boring and stuck up. He was a senior, and also the president of the student council, who was everything from intelligent, to athletic, and musically gifted. Naturally, he was a bit of a show off, and also slightly bossy. Though he was polite and kind, not many people enjoyed being around him because they weren't sure if he understood the meaning of "fun."

A lot of the younger girls in the school had a crush on him, but the older ones found no interest in him. Sure, he was smart, he was good looking, he could play three different instruments and he was an athlete, but he didn't really seem to have a lot of personal interests that made a personality. At least that's what Nico thought. Jason had dated a couple of girls within the past few years, but neither of his relationships lasted for more than three months, mainly because the girls realized that they found him boring.

"Uh, hi, Professor Valdez, I just wanted to hand in my report on our group project, that's all," Jason said, trying to sound casual. He handed Leo a piece of paper. Leo took it politely and nodded at Jason. "Um, have a nice day, Professor Valdez," Jason said awkwardly, before walking away. "You too, Jason."

Nico looked at Leo and laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just, I don't know."

Leo stared at Nico's face, trying not to smile.

He wanted to figure Nico out like how he figured out machines. He wanted to know how every gear and control worked inside Nico's mind, and he wanted to fix whatever that was broken and he wanted to take control of those broken parts and throw them away.

"Why are you staring at me?" Nico asked, but just as Leo was about to open his mouth and speak, the school bell went off, signaling the end of their lunch break. Nico frowned.

"Well, you better get going now or you'll be late for class. I guess we'll talk again soon?" Leo smiled at him. Nico had gotten up from his chair and nodded, offering his hand for Leo to shake.

Leo took his hand and shook it. "You know, maybe one day we could hang out if you want to."

Nico chortled in response.

"Yeah, maybe after I've forgiven you for giving me detention with Percy Jackson."

"3 o clock sharp until four, don't be late," Leo winked.

Nico rolled his eyes with a groan before making his way out of the library.


	5. Chapter 4

Nico and Percy were seated in the classroom where their detention was supposed to be, waiting for a teacher to enter. There were about 2 other kids in the room with them, who were both quietly minding their own business. Neither of them had said a word to each other, when Luke Castellan had suddenly walked in.

He looked around, and relief flooded all over his face, when he noticed Percy's presence in the room. Although, his expression was still grim as he took a seat beside Percy.

"Fucking son of a bitch, it's a fucking _Friday_ for fuck's sake," Luke sighed.

Percy laughed at him. "Dude, what the hell happened?"

"What the hell happened? Well, you see, that Octavian fucker handed me a detention slip because he found me in the hallways while I was supposed to be in Biology class. That's what happened," he shook his head, annoyed.

Percy laughed again.

"It's not funny," Luke said, jokingly slapping Percy on the shoulder.

"Ow! That hurt, you dick!"

Luke chortled.

"What'd you get sent here for?"

"Well, I got into a fight with di Angelo," Percy responded dryly.

"Di Angelo? _Nico_ di Angelo?"

Percy nodded in Nico's direction, Luke following his gaze. At the other side of the room, Nico sat alone, earphones plugged in as he wrote something down in his notebook.

"Okay, how the _fuck_ did that happen? Nico's quiet as hell, how could he even get into a fight? A fight with _you_ especially?" Luke seemed genuinely surprised.

Percy sucked in a breath.

"Well, I sort of teased him, and yeah. He got upset about it started yelling at me, and then Valdez got pissed off so he gave us detention."

Percy spoke of it as if recalling a heart wrenching memory from the past which he never wanted to speak of.

"What the_ hell_?" Luke stared at him, awed.

"What?" Percy snapped.

"You're that much of an asshole, huh? Woah. Just, woah. That poor kid didn't deserve shit! Seriously, what the hell, Percy?"

"Well, I, I didn't think he would react like that, okay?! God, I'm sorry! I'm fucking sorry, alright, Nico di Angelo! And I don't care if you can hear me or not but even though I sound like a total dickhead, I'm not lying about the fact that I actually do mean it!" Percy shouted frustratedly.

The two other students in the room turned to stare at Percy.

"I can hear you, you know," Nico called out, eyes still fixed on his work.

"Well, good!" Percy shouted back.

"Nico, I'm sorry that Percy's such a dick!" Luke called out.

"Yeah, whatever," was Nico's response.

"_Nico?_ Since when did _you _call him _Nico?"_ Percy stared at Luke, his eyebrows knitted.

"Excuse _me_, but I actually like the guy, and I'm genuinely nice to him, unlike you, Percy Jackson," Luke pressed.

"Nico, do you honestly think that I'm nice to you?" he called out.

Percy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess," Nico replied, finally looking up from his book, glancing at Luke and Percy.

Nico only raised an eyebrow at Percy's diagusted expression.

"See, I told you, Percy," Luke hissed.

"Hey, Nico, come on man, sit with us," he called out.

Nico laughed humourlessly. "Yeah, no thanks."

He ran a hand through his hair, glancing away, annoyed.

"Come on Nico, we should be friends or something," Luke protested.

"Yeah, with Jackson around? Sorry but _no_."

Luke was about to say something else, but just then, the teacher walked in.

Clad in a white blouse and a pencil skirt, she walked confidently in her black heels, her dark hair tied up in a bun. She wasn't wearing any makeup, except for her red lipstick, which made her look extremely _hot_. Even Nico and Luke thought so too.

"Well well, what did you delinquents do this time?" she frowned, eyeing the students disappointedly.

"Good afternoon Miss Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano," Luke greeted flirtatiously, flashing her a wink.

She only rolled her eyes. "

Don't call me that, Mr. Castellan, you should be ashamed that you're even here in this room."

"Not when you're around, Miss, at least I'll get to stare at your pretty face for one whole hour until my detention's over," he grinned.

"Say one more disrespectful thing like that and I'd have the right to hand you another detention slip," she hissed, taking a seat at the teacher's table.

"Well, if you'll be there, then I would gladly be willing to," he said again.

"Mr. Castellan, enough!" she sighed.

Percy laughed at him.

"Man, I swear to god, I'd bang her _anytime_," Luke whispered in Percy's ear.

"Dude, she's like, twenty years older than you," Percy whispered back.

"Yeah, like I give a shit about that."

"Mr. Jackson, Mr. Castellan, please, stop talking," Reyna sighed. Luke and Percy exchanged glances with each other and frowned.

Five minutes later, Luke tapped on Percy's shoulder, leaning in to whisper something in his ear, again.

"What do you want now?" Percy hissed in a whisper.

"There's a party tonight at McLean's place, I want you to come along with me."

"McLean as in Piper McLean?"

"Well yeah, who else?"

"Awesome."

"So, after this we're gonna hang out until it's time for the party or what?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Reyna exhaled sharply. "Mr. Jackson and Mr. Castellan, this is your final warning," she groaned.

"Let's bring Nico along too," Luke whispered to Percy again, ignoring the teacher.

Percy sighed, and was about to say something in protest but he stopped when he noticed that the teacher was giving them a dirty look, as though she had talons and was ready to whip them out and slash at the boys within seconds.

"Fine," Percy whispered, annoyed, before turning to look away.

The minutes passed by dreadfully. Ten, twenty, thirty. Eventually, everyone stopped counting.

* * *

Finally, Reyna took a look at her watch and spoke.

"Alright, you're all allowed to leave now."

The students blinked, surprised that the time had gone by without them realising, taking a look at their own watches. They eagerly packed their things and made their way out of the classroom, relieved that they were finally allowed to go home now.

"See you soon, Miss," Luke grinned at her, before walking out. She only gave him a dry, blank stare, before shaking her head, sighing.

As soon as they exited the classroom, Luke immediately called after Nico.

"Hey, Nico, di Angelo, wait!"

Nico, who was clutching the sling on the right hand side of his backpack, turned around. Luke immediately caught up with him.

"Listen uh, I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with me, and Percy. And well, uh, there's a party tonight at Piper McLean's place, so you could join us, you know."

Nico eyed him for a moment, raising an eyebrow.

_Hanging out_? _A party_? Actually _being with people_? And,with Luke Castellan and Percy Jackson, the two most popular kids in school, of all people? Okay, even though Percy was a total ass, and he and Luke were merely acquaintances, that still sounded tempting. Nico had always wondered how it felt like to hang out after school with friends and go to parties and stuff.

_But, they're not your friends,_ Nico reminded himself. No, he wasn't going to do this. Although Luke didn't intimidate him, he'd still feel uncomfortable if Luke was going to take him to a party with all the other popular kids. And, besides, Percy Jackson would be there the whole time, a situation that Nico definitely wanted to avoid.

_No, _Nico thought. He would not make a fool of himself again. He had already did back in History, and back in the library with Leo Valdez. He simply couldn't bear any more humiliation for the day. Screw a social life. Screw parties. Screw those people who weren't even his friends anyway. He just wasn't meant for all this. Even if he did get invited, which was the current situation, he was sure that ninety percent of the other people around wouldn't find joy in his presence, anyway.

"I, I don't know," Nico sighed.

"Aw, come on man, I just think that we should be friends, you know? I swear, you seem like a cool person. I just didn't really know how to approach you until now," Luke pleaded.

Even Percy, who was standing right beside Luke, looked at Nico with sincerity. Like he honestly didn't mind if Nico tagged along.

Nico kept glancing at the both of them, unsure of what to think of it. Percy sighed.

"Come on, I'm sorry, alright? About this morning, and everything I've done before that. I really am," he said, offering his hand for Nico to shake.

Nico raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless he gripped Percy's hand and shook it.

"So?" Luke asked, eager for a response.

Nico sighed. "I, I- I don't think so. Um, yeah. No thanks. I'm fine," he said, smiling shyly, before quickly walking away. Luke and Percy exchanged glances with each other.

Just then, Octavian passed by, stopping right in front of them.

"Ah, Mr. Castellan, I'm glad you made it to your detention," he said, flashing an icy smile.

His eyes twinkled with pure malice, before he turned to look at Percy.

"Oh, and Mr. Jackson as well, another delinquent, I see."

Percy only glared at him.

"Well boys, I've got to get going now, make sure to stay out of trouble," he grinned, before adding, "although, I doubt it."

And then he walked away.

Luke let out a groan. "I swear to god I hate that guy."

Percy laughed humourlessly in response.

"Believe me, dude, every single student and teacher in this entire school does."

Which was rather true. Octavian was one of those teachers that you could never bring yourself to_ not_ hate. He would do anything to get the students in trouble for the silliest reasons, and blame other teachers about stupid things. All he ever cared about was himself, and no one else. He was barely even polite to people.

Percy thought to himself that he honestly wouldn't even be surprised if that guy was still a 40 year old virgin. He couldn't imagine anyone actually wanting to date, or get involved in any way with a guy as horrible as that.

As they made their way towards the school doors for an exit, Nico suddenly walked back in. Percy and Luke seemed rather surprised at Nico's sudden reappearance, but didn't question it.

"Um, hey," Nico said shyly. He hesitated for a moment, still unsure if he should do it, but the recent words of Leo Valdez were ringing in his ears.

_You don't have to be afraid of anything._

Finally, he took a deep breath and said,"would it be okay if I think I changed my mind?" he spoke softly, trying not to blush.

"So, you wanna join us?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nico nodded.

"Well, then," Luke said, a smug smirk plastered onto his face.

"That would be_ excellent_."


	6. Chapter 5

"So, Nico, how's life?" Luke asked, trying to get him engaged in conversation. The three of them walked on the street, unsure of where they were heading to. "Depressing, as usual," Nico responded.

"Aw, come on man, loosen up. You can't be like this forever, you know," Luke patted his back, trying to be affectionate.

"Who cares anyway," Nico replied dryly. He sounded bored, as though he had already regretted coming along.

"Dude, you should like, get drunk and smoke or something and do dumb shit. Forget about being depressed," Luke suggested. Although when he said it, it sounded like a joke, Nico had a feeling that he was being completely serious.

Nico stared at him. "Aren't you afraid of like, _your health?_"

Percy snorted at Nico's retort.

"Who gives a fuck about health?" Luke laughed.

Percy shook his head.

"Well, I do," both Pery and Nico unintentionally said at the same time.

Nico realised what just happened and glanced at Percy, blushing, but Percy ignored him. Luke was grinning, eyeing the both of them with an eyebrow raised.

"Really now? Okay, well, maybe Nico does. But you, Percy, you?"

"Shut up," Percy laughed, jokingly punching him on the shoulder.

"Would you like to be reminded of that night where you got so drunk you started to-," but Percy stopped Luke before he could continue.

"Oh god, shut the fuck up! I swear to god, dude, don't! If Annabeth ever finds out I'd kill myself!" Percy yelled, half laughing, but blushing of embarrassment.

Nico eyed the both of them with his usual cold, dry stare, and Luke winked, glancing at Percy, asking for permission if he could tell Nico about what happened.

"No!" Percy said immediately. Luke, still grinning, rubbed his chin, pretending to think about it.

"Alright, alright, fine. I won't," he said, breaking out into laughter again. Nico remained quiet, pretending as if he didn't exist, although he had to admit that he _was _slightly curious about Percy's drunken experience which sounded _that_ embarrassing.

But then again, everyone did embarrassing things when they were drunk, so Nico figured that it was sort of okay, at least. Not that he had ever been drunk before, but he'd seen enough to know how freaky people could get when they were hopelessly wasted.

"Wait," Percy said, coming to sudden realization.

"Where the hell are we going in the first place?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Luke.

"I don't know, actually," Luke said, frowning.

"Asshole," Percy muttered.

"But hey, you still love me anyway," Luke grinned in response, making Percy only roll his eyes. For a moment it seemed as though they had both forgotten about Nico who was standing there shyly, waiting for something to happen.

Luke turned to look at him.

"So, Nico, where do _you_ feel like going?"

His response was merely a shrug. But at that very moment, he realized that he had forgotten all about Bianca. She would be home from college any minute by now, and would probably be worried sick if he still wasn't home without letting her know about it. Not that she was overprotective, but since Nico rarely ever stayed out, him not being home by nearly 5 pm would be something for her to worry about.

"Uh, guys," Nico said, taking out his phone.

"I think I should call my sister in case she gets worried."

Luke nodded as Nico tapped his screen and dialed her number.

"Hey, Bianca. I uh- no, I'll be staying out a bit late today. I promise I'll be home before midnight."

Bianca mumbled something else, making Nico hesitate. "Well, I'm with-" he paused, glancing at Luke and Percy.

They weren't exactly his friends, were they? Well, Percy was definitely not his friend anyway. But Luke? Today was probably the second time he'd had a conversation lasting more than 5 minutes with that guy in his entire life.

Luke, noticing Nico's hesitation, gestured for him to hand over the phone, which he did after hesitating for a few seconds.

"Hello, Bianca di Angelo? Don't worry about Nico, he'll be hanging out with me. I'm Luke Castellan, Nico's_ friend_."

* * *

Nico found Luke rather reassuring. After the phone call with Bianca, he felt as though he should start opening up to Luke, so he did. They continued to walk on the street, talking about random stuff, Luke asking simple questions to get to know Nico better. And after a while, the three of them had decided to eat at the "Aunty Em's" diner nearby, since they had a few more hours to kill before Piper McLean's party.

When Luke had went to order their food at the diner, Percy and Nico were left alone together at the table.

"So," Percy said. Nico looked up from his phone and frowned at Percy.

"You know what I think?" Percy said again.

"No, and neither do I want to but I do know that if you don't shut up we might just end up getting in a fist fight," Nico replied. He tried to sound confident, though he had a feeling that he was failing.

Percy laughed at his attempt.

"Dude, chill! I won't be a dick to you again, okay? I swear."

"What the hell made you suddenly decide to apologize and stop acting like how you usually do?" Nico hissed in response.

Percy was smiling. "Well, I gotta admit. You had guts back in History this morning. In fact, throughout the entire detention I've been thinking about how you've actually always got guts but never showed it. And well, Annabeth had told me once before that she kinda wanted to be friends with you, but she found you intimidating. But yeah, whatever."

Nico laughed humourlessly.

"I'm not up for your bullshit. Just because Luke's being nice to me, and I decided to hang out with you guys, it doesn't mean I don't think you're a god damn pain in the ass, Jackson."

"I get that," Percy said, tapping his fingers on the table.

"Well, I don't know, but I think Professor Valdez likes you," Percy said again.

Nico eyed him maliciously. "Don't talk to me about that asshole," he scoffed.

"Excuse you, but I was in the library during lunch just now," Percy said again.

"Like I give a shit."

"Well, _I do_," Percy pressed.

"And I thought if that Valdez guy is going to set us up for some dumb project, we might as well just stop being enemies anyway," he added. Nico met his eyes, frowning, before turning to look away, shaking his head.

"And after everything that you've done, you decide to go _saintlike_ all of a sudden just because of what happened today?" he asked.

Percy shook his head in response, smirking.

"Who the hell said that I would _ever_ decide to go saintlike, di Angelo?"

* * *

The three of them ate their food, Luke continuously putting up his best effort to get Nico into conversation as much as possible. He tried to loosen things up between Percy and Nico, which sort of worked as well. At least they were slightly talking now.

"Well, we've still got an hour to kill before McLean's party," Luke said as they exited the diner.

"So?" Percy asked.

"So, I don't think we should hang out at my place, cause my mom's home," he said.

"Alright, whatever," Percy responded, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Luke suddenly walked over to parking lot behind the diner, and waved his arm, gesturing for Percy and Nico to follow. Percy and Nico exchanged quizzical glances with each other, before making their way towards Luke.

When they arrived, they realized that Luke had a carton of cigarettes in his hands, and was smirking mischievously.

"Really, now?" Percy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Why the hell not?" Luke said, handing a cigarette to Percy, which he accepted without a word.

"No one's gonna see us anyway. This place is literally deserted."

He handed one to Nico as well.

Nico hesitated, eyeing them both, unsure of what to do. Percy and Luke held back their smirks, eager to know if Nico would give it a try.

"Uh, no thanks," he muttered nervously, finally coming to a decision.

"Damn it, Luke grinned, shaking his head. Percy merely shrugged. They lit up, as Nico stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do next.

"You know what, I'll just be doing my work," he said, trying to sound casual as he sat down on the ground, taking out a book from his school bag.

Luke laughed. "Come on, emo nerd kid, ditch the old habits. You're hanging out with the cool kids now."

But Nico shook his head politely.

So the three of them sat there, just like that. Luke and Percy talking about life as they sat down on the curb, smoking cigarettes, while Nico di Angelo tried to distract himself by attempting on his homework.

"You wanna know what Percy did when he was wasted the other day?" Luke called out, half laughing.

"Dude, shut the fuck up!" Percy yelled.

"He made out with me," Luke said smugly, wiggling his eyebrows at Nico, and then glancing at Percy with a laughed, hitting Luke repeatedly on the shoulder.

Nico eyed the both of them, with a nervous half-smile, before turning back to his work_. _Or at the very least, the work that he was desperately attempting to do, but was failing terribly. It was pretty obvious that his "homework" was just a dumb excuse because he felt awkward.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, though, Nico thought that he couldn't handle it anymore. He quickly stuffed his books back into his bag, and desperately grabbed a cigarette from the carton that Luke set on the curb beside him.

"Give me that," he said, snatching the lighter from Luke's hands. Both Luke and Percy were startled by Nico's suddenness, but they laughed anyway. Nico lit it up, unsure of what to expect, as Luke and Percy watched him eagerly.

He placed it to his lips, and took a drag before coughing up almost the entirety of both his lungs. He had not expected his first try to be that bad, but he was wrong. The smoke that filled his lungs almost immediately choked him, violently stealing his breath.

"What the hell is this?" he croaked, unable to breathe properly.

"That's now how you do it, asshole," Luke laughed.

Luke and Percy laughed as he violently coughed for about two minutes, before finally calming down. He sat down beside Luke on the curb, placing the cigarette to his mouth again, attempting for another go. This time, he managed to do it better than before, and only coughed a little bit, at which Luke and Percy both smiled approvingly.

"Welcome to the club, kiddo," Luke said, offering his hand for Nico to shake.

"What ever happened to being afraid of your health?" he asked, grinning mischievously.

"Who gives a fuck about health?" Nico responded, smirking, as he placed the cigarette between his lips.

* * *

"So," Luke said, glancing at Nico.

"Are you ready for this shit?"

Nico nodded nervously. Luke gave Nico a reassuring smile, straightening the necktie around the 16 year old's collar as Percy rapped on the front door of Piper McLean's house.

Thalia Grace opened the door about two seconds later, clutching a drink in her hand, glancing at them. "Oh, hey, about time! Luke, Jackson," she paused, realizing that Nico was there. "Di Angelo," she said, raising an eyebrow, though she offered a smile right after and gestured for them to enter the house.

The music was blasting loudly, drumming against their ears, pulsating through the pubescent bodies gathered in the house. Nico noticed Annabeth sat on the floor in a circle with a few other kids, who were all laughing, apparently exchanging gossip or something- whatever people usually did at parties, anyway.

Nico glanced around nervously, feeling insecure. No one had taken notice of his presence, or even if they did, they probably hadn't done anything about it, because he hadn't noticed anyone staring at him so far. Well, at least, not yet.

"Dude, I'm off to take some shots. You'll be fine without me, okay?" Luke said, patting Nico's shoulder reassuringly.

Nico nodded, before laughing, yelling after Luke over the loud music.

"How the hell do you people deal with this crap like almost every week?"

"Learn to fucking enjoy it, di Angelo!" Luke called back, grinning over his shoulder with a wink before disappearing in the crowd.

Nico glanced to his side, noticing that Percy wasn't there either. But then again, Percy had probably gone off with his other friends from the moment they entered this house and Nico hadn't even realized. Well, not that Nico was his_ friend_ in the first place anyway. But at least they were on talking terms now and Percy had completely stopped being an ass even though they only hung out with each other for 3 hours. Nevertheless, Nico still detested the guy. But, if it wasn't for Luke, none of this would've happened.

Nico, unsure of what to do next, walked into the kitchen cluelessly, and leaned awkwardly against the counter, praying for a miracle to happen. Just then, Hazel had stumbled into the kitchen, with her boyfriend Frank's arms around her waist, their mouths tangled together, grinning. It took her a few moments to realize that Nico was there before she pulled away from Frank, flustered.

"Oh, hey, Nico," she blushed, eyeing him curiously. Nico waved at her, shyly. At least it was Hazel and Frank who stumbled into the kitchen, making out, and not those kids in the hallways who couldn't look at him without glaring.

"Didn't expect to see you here," Frank said, straightening his shirt, his cheeks still red from embarrassment.

"In the kitchen or at the party?" Nico asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. No one would expect Nico di Angelo to be at a party. No one would even expect him to get invited to anywhere at all, in the first place. So this was pretty much of a shocker to everyone, including himself.

"Uh," Frank said, but Nico brushed him off.

"I get it, okay."

"I regret it already," he added, trying not to seem rude to Frank and Hazel.

"Aw, come on, Nico," she said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Yeah, don't just stand here in the kitchen, do something," Frank added.

"Like?" Nico asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Like, I don't know- but come on, follow us," Hazel said, grabbing his wrist. Before he knew it, she and Frank were dragging him into a crowd full of kids, making their way upstairs to one of the bedrooms.

Hazel pushed open the door, and found a group of people sat in a circle on the floor, playing a game of truth and dare. Piper, noticing someone entering the room, looked up at them. "Oh, hey Hazel, hey Frank," she called out. She took another glance, pausing.

"Hey, Nico, di Angelo? I don't remember inviting you here," she said.

"Yeah well-," Nico was about to make a cold remark before she cut him off.

"It's fine, come on guys, join us," she gestured for them to sit down.

Nico sat down nervously beside Piper and Hazel, unsure of what to do next. He scanned the faces of the people who were sat in the circle. Percy was there, he noticed, and at that very moment, he was glancing at him, before looking away. Annabeth, who was only downstairs merely minutes ago, was in the room and sitting beside Percy.

And then there was Rachel Dare, a girl whom he had never talked to before, and never intended to either. And the super tall basketballer guy, Tyson, who Nico found intimidating as hell. Grover Underwood, who was rather close to Percy and seemed kinda like a cool kid, but also, whom he has never talked to before. And shockingly enough, Jason Grace was there as well.

So that made the ten of them.

They had several bottles of beer and god knows what other alcoholic substances, (Nico didn't want to find out), in the middle of the circle, and at the moment, Grover had one in his hand as well.

"So," Piper said, grinning to face Hazel and Nico.

"We're just gonna pass the bottle around, and every time it's your turn, take a shot. If you hesitate to answer or carry out a certain dare, take another shot. Well, basically, just keep taking shots until, you know," she laughed.

Grover handed the bottle over to Jason, who was sat beside him.

"Alright Mr. Grace, truth or dare?" he grinned.

Jason gulped down a pint, before saying, "truth," with an edge of mischief to it.

"Oh, oh, I'll go for this one," Percy said.

He glanced at Jason, grinning. "Tell us in detail about your most_ kinky_ sexual experience."

The group burst into laughter, except for Nico, who in no way found it amusing.

"Dude, what the fuck?! That's like, invading my privacy!" Jason yelled in response, laughing.

From the rumours Nico had heard, and from what he saw in school, he never expected Jason to act like this. He knew that the guy wasn't really the partying type, but yet, it kinda sounded impossible if he didn't have a social or sex life at all.

He made a mental note to himself, reminding himself that most people had much more interesting lives outside of school. For all he knew, Miss Reyna could be getting drunk in a club right now, or Leo Valdez could be jerking off to lesbian porn and no one would know. He immediately decided that he didn't really like that second thought and wanted to push it away.

"Come on, Jason," Percy smirked, challenging him.

"Shit," Jason said, taking another gulp from the bottle. At that, everyone in the group turned to look at Piper, whose face had turned crimson. She was holding back and embarrassed smile, staring down at the floor and avoiding the eyes of the people in the group.

"I swear to god, Jackson," Jason said, half laughing, still reluctant to speak.

Piper glanced at him.

"That's it. Fuck all of you," she said, getting up."I'm fucking outta here."

She walked over to Jason, yanked the bottle from his grasp and chugged down a pint before handing it back to him and heading towards the door.

"Have fun without me, assholes," she called out from the door, still trying to hold back her embarrassed smile.

"Well," Percy said, suggestively raising his eyebrows at Jason.

"Fine, fine, fucking hell," Jason sighed, embarrassed.

Nico sat there, as the group listened in amusement about the time where Jason had had sex with Piper in her living room when no one was around. And apparently, a _banana split_ (don't ask) with actual ice cream and chocolate sauce and bananas were involved. And to make things worse, Thalia, Jason's sister, had came over to Piper's house to take him home, when she accidentally walked in on them and it didn't really end up being a memorable experience for Jason from there.

Nico honestly didn't need to know, but apparently for the past two weeks, there had been rumours around school about it happening, thanks to Thalia and her big mouth. So Percy had taken this opportunity to confirm with Jason if it was actually true. And, another thing that Nico didn't need to know, Jason had had this thing going on with Piper for about a month already, which the whole school knew about, excluding himself until this very moment. It came as a shocker, because Piper was honestly not Jason's "type" but then again, Percy, was also not Annabeth's type and they've been dating for more than a year now, in contrary to what everyone expected at first.

The game went on for about half an hour more, when Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace, half drunk, had entered the room to join them. When Thalia arrived, Jason immediately got up, shaking his head and refusing to play the game in his sister's presence, so he walked out of the room to go do god know's what at god know's where. And about a few minutes after that, Annabeth had gotten a phone call from her parents, so she kissed Percy on the mouth, and ruffled his hair before getting up and leaving, making her way home.

Nearly an hour had passed, and Nico still hadn't gotten to his turn yet, but he honestly didn't care anyway. No one really talked to him, except for Hazel and Frank, and Luke, which he didn't really care about either. He had expected for this to happen since the very moment he stepped right into the house. It was Percy's turn, when Piper had walked back into the room, sitting down and rejoining the game with them.

"So anyway, I, Rachel, dare you to," Rachel said with a pause, grinning at him.

"God damn it, why'd you make a pun out of your own name?" Luke laughed, shaking his head.

"Shut up Castellan, I'll do whatever I wanna do," Rachel hissed, before glancing back at Percy.

"Since Annabeth's gone, how about you kiss the cutest _guy_ in this room, Percy _fucking_ Jackson. On the mouth, and as passionately as possible." she smirked.

Colour immediately filled Percy's cheeks with embarrassment.

"Shit," he said, glancing at the floor.

"Come on now, Jackson," she said.

Everyone in the group was staring at him eagerly.

Percy shook his head, taking another sip from the bottle. He was already hammered up by now. Not exactly drunk, but not entirely sober either.

"Everyone knows it's gonna be me that he'll kiss," Luke laughed.

Everyone glanced eagerly at Luke and Percy.

"Do I really now?" Percy hesitated.

Eager murmurs of "yes," came from everyone sat in the circle.

"Fine," he finally said, sighing, and getting up from where he sat.

* * *

Nico di Angelo wasn't even paying attention to what was going on in the room, until he realized that Percy Jackson had grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to kiss him on the mouth.

"What the fuck?!" Nico yelled, startled.

Everyone in the room was staring at them, clearly surprised that Percy had gotten up and tried to kiss _Nico,_ of all people, instead of everyone else in the room. Hazel was staring at him, wide eyed, and so was everyone else.

"Dude, calm down, it's just a dare, okay?" Percy said.

Nico frowned, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Have you ever kissed anyone before?" Percy asked, looking right into Nico's obsidian eyes.

Nico shook his head again.

"Just, shh, do whatever your instincts tell you to do. And close your eyes."

Nico's heart was hammering so hard against his chest, he was afraid it might just stop beating.

Everyone waited eagerly, trying to conceal the grins on their faces.

"It's just a dare, okay?" Percy reminded him.

"Okay," Nico breathed.

It all happened too fast, he didn't even realize when he had his hand in Percy's hair, and the other one on his back. His brain tingled at the touch of it all, his mouth moving in whatever way he felt was best. He didn't even know what he was doing, but now he realized why a lot of people liked kissing so much. The feel of Percy's lips on his felt so great. But so, so wrong. Percy had a girlfriend. And Nico had a crush on Leo Valdez. This wasn't supposed to happen. Ever.

_It's just a dare,_ he reminded himself. Heck, he didn't even _like _Percy in the first place!Well sure, he used to have a crush on Percy back when he was ten. But that was like six years ago. But he honestly couldn't even put together what he felt when he's realizing the fact that his first kiss is currently happening with the guy he first ever had romantic feelings for.

Percy pulled away and Nico's eyes flew open. He couldn't even fathom what he felt at that very moment. Nico stared, wide eyed, at Percy's face, shocked by their rather unintentionally intimate experience.

"Well," Percy said, snapping Nico out of his momentarily daze, eyes quickly darting to the floor.

Percy frantically stood up, flustered, and walked back to where he originally sat.

For a short moment, the kids in the group were too stunned to speak, before they burst out into cheers and laughter

"Really now, Percy, so, is the reason why you've been bullying him all along because you've sort of thought he was cute and kinda liked him?" Luke asked.

"Shut the fuck up," Percy blushed.

Nico was too stunned to say anything when everyone looked at him. All he knew was that his face was about to melt at any moment from the heat radiating inside him.

"O-kay," Luke said awkwardly attempting to break the tension.

"Who's next?"

And so they continued to play their dumb game, but this time, Nico actually felt like he was accepted.

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the bedroom window. Nico di Angelo awoke with a splitting headache, and in a bed that wasn't his. He glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that the time was 10.30 a.m.

He was still in a blur, and vaguely aware of his current situation, when he realized a shirtless Percy Jackson who was still sleeping beside him. He kicked off the blankets and sat up, glancing around the room.

Luke Castellan was also in the bed.

And Piper McLean was laying down the floor, apparently texting someone on her phone. She noticed that Nico had woken up and she glanced at him.

"Good morning. And thanks for passing out in my bed," she said.

"Wait what?" Nico asked, utterly confused.

"God, you're too hungover to remember, aren't you?" she asked, shaking her head.

Nico sat there, squinting, trying to recall what happened last night. He had a vague memory of playing truth or dare, and kissing Percy Jackson on the mouth. And also some loud music, and dancing, and- oh- oh- oh god, _holy shit. _He finally remembered now.

The memories of last night came flooding in. He remembered getting drunk and his thoughts going fuzzy after their game of truth or dare. And he remembered someone dragging him into the living room to dance to some shitty pop tune. And after that he wasn't even sure what happened, but he remembered smoking more cigarettes with Luke and Percy.

And he remembered being out in the garden at 2 a.m. and having a water balloon fight with god knows who.

And he also remembered laughing so hard about a joke that wasn't even funny, and Luke Castellan making out with Thalia Grace in Piper McLean's bed, when he came over and pushed them away, telling them that he needed a bed to fall asleep in as soon as possible.

And Luke and Thalia were laughing, when Jason Grace, or whoever the hell that was tall and blonde and had blue eyes had dragged her out of the room. And then Luke just sort of fell asleep beside him on the bed and Percy, well, he didn't even know- or if he did, he probably didn't remember how Percy had ended up in the bed, shirtless.

But all he knew was that he was in deep trouble.

"Shit," Nico said, panicking, fumbling for his phone in his pocket, thankful that it was actually still there in the first place.

"Mhm, _shit,_ alright. Only now you're realizing," Piper responded dryly.

_Ten missed calls from Bianca _was displayed across the screen of his phone.

"Shit, shit, holy fucking shit, I swear to god I am going to fucking die," Nico panicked, struggling to get out of the bed.

"I hope you don't mean that literally," Piper said.

"Dude, shut up, where the fuck is my bag?!" he panicked, vainly attempting to search the room for it.

"It's downstairs ya smartass," Piper said again.

"Where?!" he asked, raising his voice.

"On the sofa in the living room," she responded.

"_My sister is gonna fucking kill me_," Nico cried, more to himself than to Piper as he quickly made his way out of the room.

"Boys," she muttered softly, shaking her head.


	7. Chapter 6

AN: Sorry for the late update. And since a lot have people have been asking me this, my answer would be, _no, Nico did not have sex with anyone under the circumstances of the previous chapter. _Nor did Percy, or Luke. In case you were hoping for it, then sorry.

* * *

Nico arrived home, panting, and immediately tried to quietly shut the front door behind him. He had taken a run from Piper's house which took him about twenty minutes, and running with a hangover literally made him feel like dying. He nearly puked and passed out along the way, but somehow he managed to hold it in. He actually couldn't comprehend how disgusted he felt. There were no words for it, and he reminded himself to never again do all the things he did last night.

He was just about to shut the door of his room and pass out when Bianca stepped right in front of him, holding the door.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

Nico's guts were churning with fear and guilt, as well as the physical effects of a hangover, not knowing what to expect. Nothing like this had ever happened before, so he had no idea how Bianca would even react to it.

He was about to opened his mouth to speak when she brushed him off immediately.

"First of all, why the hell do you stench of alcohol and cigarettes?!"

"Bianca, I'm-," but she stopped him again.

"Have you _any idea _how worried I was about you last night?! And suddenly you come home at 11 _am_, when you were supposed to be home like _twelve hours before that_, probably still drunk or something, and reeking of _alcohol_, doing god knows whatever the hell you were doing last night! What the hell happened to you, Nico?!"

Nico shook his head in response, barely even knowing what to say.

"Less than twenty four hours ago, you told me you had literally no friends. So, where the hell have you been?!" she pressed, her voice breaking at the verge of tears.

Nico wanted to choke and just die right there and then as he felt tears well up behind his eyes.

"Answer me, Nico. Tell me _exactly_ what you were doing last night," she sighed.

"I- I went to a party. And, uh, we were, I can't-," he stammered, not even knowing where to begin.

She held his shoulders and forced him to look at her face. He was flushed with guilt and embarrassment as she looked at him with disappointment.

"From the start, till the god damn end," she whispered.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he nodded, trying to not make it too obvious that he was trying hard not to cry.

"I well, uh. We, Luke and, Percy and I we- we hung out at this diner and then we went to this party. At, Mc Lean's, Piper Mc Lean's place. And yeah, I don't know. I, I think I sort of g-got drunk and, I... I can't really remember. I- I just passed out in one of the rooms and yeah."

"Oh, oh, dear god, Nico," Bianca sighed exasperatedly, shaking her head.

"I'm, I'm sorry, Bianca I shouldn't have done any of that I'm really sorry. I swear to god I'm sorry," Nico muttered.

"And what about the smell of cigarettes?" she asked, still shaking her head.

"I- I don't know, we-, they kinda got me to smoke a few and, well."

"God, god, god. God damn it. _A few?_ Seems to me like you smoked two whole cartons!"

"Bianca- I'm, I'm so so sorry I shouldn't have-," but she cut him off again.

"Don't bother. You know what? In fact, don't even bother talking to me for the entire weekend. I'm just- ugh, forget it!" she said, shaking her head and walking away from him.

"Bianca, I swear, I'm sorry! I get that you're mad but-," he called out, chasing after her.

She turned around, looking at him with disgust.

"I'm not mad, Nico. I'm more than that. I'm disappointed, okay? Just don't talk to me, please."

"Bianca-," he pleaded, but she had walked into her room and slammed the door shut.

Nico sighed theatrically, before slamming himself onto his bed and burying his face in his pillow. He didn't know what the hell he had just put himself into.

Bianca, the only person who was ever accepting of him, was now not only upset, but disappointed with him. He had abused her trust, done something undeniably stupid, compromised his own health, and screwed things up for the both of them.

Sure, he had wanted a social life, and to hang out with people, he had gotten it. He had wanted to do what all the other kids did, and he had gotten it. But after it all happened it just felt extremely pointless in the end. The satisfaction wasn't there forever.

He wasn't even in the position to tell people that he had sex with a popular kid from school, because he didn't. He wasn't in the position to tell people that he had a hot make out session, because he didn't.

All the other kids had gone to parties. All the other kids had had hot make out sessions. Most of them had even had sex, and he didn't even know what the big deal was all about. They all got drunk and they all danced to shitty pop music and had a shit load of fun. But all he got was his first kiss that wasn't even a proper kiss because it was a dare, and a horrible hangover that made him felt like dying.

Regret flooded him like a tsunami. He had screwed up possibly every single thing in his life at least once already. And even when he actually sort of enjoyed himself last night and felt socially accepted, he had screwed it up too, by disappointing his sister. He didn't know what to do with himself anymore, and he had probably never felt worse.

* * *

The weekend went by slow and dreadful, Bianca still avoided him, ignoring him every time he called out to her. Eventually he gave up with everything and spent his weekend reading dumb articles on the internet and working on one or two paintings, and burying himself with a book, or simply just sketching out random shitty drawings while listening to music.

His weekends had always been mostly like this, anyway, but he had spent them with Bianca, and not feeling as lonely as ever as he had felt right then. No one from the party had phoned or texted him either, not even Luke, but he didn't make a big deal out of it anyway, although he was sort of expecting that Luke might invite him to hang out again, he honestly wasn't surprised when he was disappointed with the fact that he had heard nothing from him since Friday night.

So he spent his entire weekend literally not talking to anyone at all, as he felt the negativity inside him slowly eat him away. The whole time, his mind wandered off about how horrible he felt about himself for disappointing his sister, and how good Percy's lips felt upon his, and also, _Leo Valdez_.

Maybe the thought of Leo Valdez was just something that was permanently stuck in Nico's head, and he had gotten used to it. He wondered what Leo was doing right now, and if Leo was ever feeling as shitty as he did, which he doubted. And he wondered if Leo had his phone number, would they be texting each other? Talking to each other on the phone? He tried not to think of it, but he couldn't help himself.

He didn't want to like that guy too much, because he knew that it would only end up disappointing him anyway, but it was too hard to not to. He his thoughts lingered back on the conversation that they had had in the library.

Nico reminded himself that Leo's intentions were mainly just him being a responsible teacher, seeing that he probably viewed Nico as a lonely, helpless sixteen year old.

Or, it could be possible, but highly unlikely that Leo could have been slightly flirting with Nico, hoping for something to happen, if Nico was, indeed, queer, could Leo have suspected? What if Leo was queer as well?

_No, don't be a pathetic idiot,_ Nico reminded himself.

As much as the possibility of that thought seemed logical, he still tried his best to deny it anyway because what use were feelings for a teacher who could never even return them anyway?

What use were _feelings _anyway?

Nico had always wondered why he had to deal with all this bullshit. Thinking about everything made his head spin. In the end, he thought he couldn't handle it anymore, so he worked up his guts and confronted Bianca because he felt like he was about to lose the entirety of little sanity he actually had left.

"What the hell do you want, for god's sake, Nico?" she sighed, slamming her laptop shut and turning to face him.

"Bianca, I, I get that you're still mad at me about the other day but-," she cut him off before he could even finish.

"Look, I don't want to talk about that day okay? Whoever the hell it was that Friday night, it wasn't the Nico I knew. I told you to leave me alone!" she hissed.

Nico felt bile rise up his throat, his Adam's apple aching, but he still managed to keep himself together while he spoke.

"_Bianca_," he pressed, "it isn't about the other day! Okay? It's something else, please, just listen to me?" he pleaded, his voice at the brink of cracking.

Bianca closed her eyes for a moment, exhaling.

" is it?" she sighed, getting up from her chair.

"I- well, it's about-," he was about to continue but she had cut him off (yet again).

"Let's just sit on the sofa and talk, shall we?"

Nico nodded, taking a seat beside her.

She patted his back affectionately, before diverting her full attention to his face.

"So, what is it?" she asked, trying to sound motherly, although the anger and hurt was still visible in her voice.

"Well. Uh. I, I have a crush... On my history teacher. And, and I don't know, I think he's trying to befriend me. It sounds dumb I feel stupid for thinking about it. And, yeah," he sighed.

"Oh, Nico," Bianca shook her head.

"It's dumb, okay? I get that. But I'm just _so _frustrated," Nico sighed.

Bianca wordlessly offered him a hug, which he gratefully accepted. It felt so great to be held in her embrace again, he wanted to cry tears of joy. He loved his sister so much, he couldn't even fathom it.

Nothing, literally nothing in the entire universe, could ever compare to his love for his sister. Right now he just felt extremely guilty for every single mean thing he's ever said to her, and every single time he'd accidentally hurt her feelings, and it made him want to not exist. He didn't want to exist. He didn't deserve to exist. He shouldn't even have ever existed if Bianca, the only person in his life who meant that much to him, only gets hurt by his stupid actions.

"I love you, I love you so much, Bianca. I'm so sorry. I love you," he sobbed into her shoulder, unable to think of what else to say.

Bianca gently stroked his back, "hey, don't cry, Nico, I love you too, okay? I love you," she whispered, pulling away.

She laughed at the sight of his unruly tear streaked face, and wiped the tears away with her hands.

"You asshole," she giggled.

"You'll be fine. It's okay Nico, you're still my brother, and I love you."

Nico nodded, grinning slightly at her remark, which made him feel better.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"I'm sorry too," she said, pulling him into a hug again, kissing the top of his head.

"So, continue, what else do you have to say?" she asked, wanting to get back on topic. Nico shook his head.

"That's it. That's just it," he sighed.

"Well, what's his name?"

"Leo Valdez. Professor Leo Valdez."

She nodded, and then paused for a moment to think.

"I don't know, Bianca. It just, he just suddenly talked to me, telling me that he wants to be my _'friend' _and that I should trust him. He didn't say anything creepy or weird but he told me that if I ever wanted to talk to him, he'll be there. It was just so... _sudden_," Nico added, shaking his head disappointedly.

"Well, what else?" she asked.

"And, I don't know. I went to the library during lunch, and then, we just sort of talked to each other. You know, but not like a friendly, casual, student teacher conversation thing. It sort of felt kind of different. Like, he genuinely wanted to get to know me better, it was...," he paused, thinking of a suitable adjective.

"_Great_. Yeah, it was great. Talking to him. I don't know why. At first I felt kind of awkward, but then it just started to feel somewhat... natural," he sighed.

Bianca sucked in a breath, thinking of what to say, before she finally spoke.

"Well, I don't know, Nico. Sounds to me like he's just being a concerned teacher. He probably noticed how lonely you looked like when you were in school, and he wanted to make you feel better."

"Yeah, I just- but, yeah, I don't know, I just honestly don't know. It's dumb, it's _so dumb_," Nico sighed.

Nico buried his face in his hands and continued, "I want to get to know him. I want to be his friend. I don't know, actually, I just want him. God, help me," he cried.

Bianca nervously pressed her lips together, sucking in a breath. "Well, Nico, I ...," she paused, before speaking again, this time, with more confidence.

"You can go ahead and be friends with him or whatever, but don't make yourself look vulnerable. If he somewhat realises your feelings for him, things are gonna get really tough."

"What do you even mean?" he asked, eyeing her frustratedly.

"I mean, that he could probably return those feelings, and that would be dangerous, because if you actually get something going on, the school could find out and you'd both end up in trouble. Or, he could start avoiding you, and it would only make yourself feel worse. Classes would start getting awkward and uncomfortable, okay?"

Nico heaved a sigh, staring at the floor for a few moments before he finally spoke.

"Is it bad if I daydream about kissing him?"

Bianca shook her head disappointedly.

"Look, Nico, listen to me, okay? You- you can't-," she paused, trying to level herself before continuing in an exasperated tone.

"I get that. I get that you can't control your feelings towards people, especially about something like this. _You can't help how you feel about someone, and that's completely okay._ Because if you could, then you probably wouldn't even want to feel this way. But, sometimes don't act too much upon those thoughts. Don't trust yourself completely, and never, never ever get too close, no matter how tempting it seems. Even if the opportunity just slaps you in the face, learn how to keep your distance, okay? Because getting too close is only going to make you feel nothing but hurt and regret in the end. It could be the both of you, it could be only one of you, but someone will end up getting hurt."

Nico was speechless for a few moments, unsure of how to respond to that. He stared at her and frowned, nodding weakly.

"Okay," he said, finally.

"Promise me, just do whatever you wanna do, but, whatever happens, just don't get too close, alright?" she said, patting him on the back.

"I promise," he sighed, looking up at her with a humourless smile.

A tensioned silence filled the space for a few moments, before Nico finally broke it.

"I'm sorry about Friday night," he muttered.

"I'm sorry too," she replied, frowning.

They stared at each other's faces for a few moments, before Bianca's face softened up into a slight smile, offering her brother another hug.


	8. Chapter 7

AN: Damn it, sorry I was late, again. And, Happy New Year, guys!

* * *

The first half of Nico's Monday went on for him like every other day usually did. He went to class, hated people, handed up his homework and remained mostly quiet. Although the bullying had died down thanks to Percy's sudden "change", he actually doubted if Percy was even being sincere and was just secretly planning some "evil scheme" in the end.

He had History for the last period on that day, which he actually dreaded after all that had happened during the weekend. Bianca had reminded him about her advice from the previous day, and kissed his forehead like she often did before he exited the car and made his way to the school entrance.

At lunch, he had gone to the library to see if Leo Valdez was there, which he was. Nico hesitated for a few minutes, hiding behind one of the bookshelves contemplating if he should sit down with Leo or not, before Leo called out, "I know you're there, you know," to which he came out from the shadows and started blushing before making his way towards the table.

"God, don't be shy to approach me," Leo shook his head, smiling slightly, his gaze still fixated on his work as Nico took a seat across him.

"People make me uncomfortable."

"I noticed that."

"Yeah well..."

Leo looked up from the papers laid out in front of him, glancing at Nico.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?"

Nico shook his head, frowning.

"Alright, good," Leo smirked, before looking back at his work.

Nico paused, hesitating, he felt a rush of colour creep up his cheeks.

"I, I don't know. You- you make me feel intimidated."

Leo glanced up at Nico again, cocking an eyebrow. Upon eyeing the look on Leo's face, Nico's blush intensified.

"Shut up, okay?" he huffed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, although it was obvious that he was restraining himself from smiling.

"So, I intimidate you?" Leo laughed.

"I said, shut up."

"Okay, okay. Why though?"

"I, I don't know. I don't know, can we not talk about this ever again?"

Nico had buried his face in his hands, trying to conceal the look in his face. Leo was still laughing.

"Fine."

There was a brief silence between them, before Leo broke the tension.

"Aren't you hungry or something?"

"Yeah, kinda. But there's no way in hell I'll be going into that cafeteria."

"How do you deal with not eating lunch every day?"

"My hatred towards people just motivates me."

"Can you stop with the hating people, for once?"

"Nah, it runs in my veins."

Leo scoffed. "Whatever you say, kid."

"Don't call me that."

"Okay," Leo shrugged, getting up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Nico asked, getting up from his seat as well.

"Lunch," Leo replied tonelessly.

"Fine. See you during History then."

"_History?_ I didn't say anything about you not coming along with me, didn't I?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow and holding back a grin.

Nico's eyes met the floor as he shook his head, smiling, before Leo gestured for him to follow him out of the library.

* * *

"So you cook _noodles_ in your spare time?" Nico asked, laughing.

"I don't consider it a hobby though," Leo grinned in response.

The two of them were eating by the curb in the school's parking lot where Leo had parked his car. Every day before leaving for work, he'd cook something for himself and pack it up, to eat for lunch, and today he'd made some fried noodles.

He hadn't intentionally planned on eating lunch with Nico, but after encountering him in the library, he thought it would be a great idea to do so. After all, he just wanted to be in the presence of that younger boy, even if it meant eating with him, teaching him, or just being in the same room.

The noodles were a bit cold, considering that they were cooked at 7 in the morning, but Nico didn't mind. He had to admit that he was rather hungry, and with Leo actually offering to have Lunch with him, he found it a good excuse to actually eat. They ate from separate containers, Leo had found an extra one in his car and poured half of his food into it before handing it over to Nico, and they sat there talking about a lot of things that didn't even matter.

Nico couldn't even remember what they were talking about, when the school bell had rang, so he got up and said goodbye, before making his way to his next class.

* * *

During History, Leo had informed the students about their assignment, which would be due in about a month, and they'd all been paired up with someone to make a 10 minute video documentary regarding any period of historical significance ranging from the 19th century till the early 20th.

When Leo announced the names of the students and the people they were supposed to be paired up with, it was accompanied by groans and murmurs of protests, but nevertheless, they had no choice but to accept what they were given. And, as they had been informed earlier, Nico got paired up with Percy, which made some of the kids laugh when it got announced.

Nico heaved a sigh as Percy only shrugged in response. When the class was over and they were all allowed to go home, Percy informed Nico that he'll text him when he wanted to discuss their project, making Nico nod before heading towards the exit.

Just as the students were filing out and Nico was about to exit the classroom, Leo called out for him from the teachers table. "Nico, come here for a moment." Nico glanced at Leo, frowning, before he walked towards the desk.

"I was wondering, if..."

"If?"

"Do you wanna come over to my place?"

"_What?_" Nico's eyebrows shot up, he wasn't sure if he had heard him right.

"You heard me," Leo said, trying to sound casual. His fingers rapped on the desktop in anticipation.

"But you're a teacher. And I'm a student."

"Yeah but," Leo paused, feeling embarrassed. He quickly averted his gaze, unsure of how to hide his informality. He shouldn't be doing that as a teacher, he knew. It could screw everything up within a blink of an eye, and he wouldn't even realise it.

"You know what, I'm sorry, never mind," Leo said, trying to undo the mess he'd dug himself into.

Nico chortled for a moment, and stood there, staring at Leo. "You actually were being serious."

"I said never mind."

"Okay then, bye," Nico shrugged, before making his way towards the door again.

"Nico," Leo called out, again.

Nico turned around, frowning. "What else now?"

"We _can_, you know. I mean, I want to. I don't know, uh," he paused, eyeing the floor, before glancing up at Leo again, blushing. "No one will have to know."

Nico had a feeling that he understood what Leo was trying to say. Immediately, he felt a rush of blood crawl up his cheeks. His face was burning, and he was trying as hard as he could to not seem overwhelmed.

"Can what?" he asked, trying to act oblivious.

"Don't deny yourself, Nico," Leo said, flustered, and frowning. Nico was trying hard not to melt onto the floor as his insides wrenched with a fluster of emotions he couldn't comprehend.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say," he spat.

"Oh, for the love of god, it's kind of obvious that I _know_ how you actually feel about me, Nico. I'm not blind. I've seen it for quite a while now and I've just been waiting for the right opportunity to approach you, okay?"

"What the _hell_ do you mean?" Nico hissed. He was raising his voice now, reminding himself of Bianca's advice to not seem vulnerable, although the look on his face stated otherwise.

"You know_ exactly_ what I mean," Leo sighed.

"It's not gonna happen, okay? Whatever the hell you're talking about, _it's not going to happen._ So, leave me alone."

He was about to make a third attempt at exiting the classroom, when Leo called out to him again.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, his face flustered with embarrassment.

Nico glanced at him, shrugging, before slamming the door shut.

He didn't exactly make his way down the corridor, but instead, he took a few steps forward and found himself standing there, contemplating the incident that happened merely a few seconds ago.

What the actual hell had actually happened? He had no idea. He wanted to go back inside the classroom, and just get things sorted out between them, but he didn't have the guts to. He had no idea how he would face his History teacher in their next lesson, and he had no idea what to do with his life anymore. In the end, he just sat down on the floor right beside the door, frustrated, and waited for Leo to leave the classroom.

* * *

When Leo opened the door, wanting to make an exit, he found himself raising an eyebrow at the unexpected sight of Nico sitting down on the floor and looking up right at him.

"I'm sorry," Nico sighed, as he stood up, dusting his knees.

"About?"

"Nothing. Can I hug you?" Nico said, unexpectedly.

Leo snorted, half laughing, before pulling Nico into a hug.

"You never fail to amuse me, Nico di Angelo."

"In a good way or a bad way?"

"Both."

Nico pulled away, laughing slightly.

"I'm not gonna deny my feelings," he said, glancing at Leo, shyly.

"Okay, and?"

"And, you were right. Okay? About my _feelings_, if that's what I think you mean," he spat, nervously pressing his lips together.

Leo was grinning shyly, glancing at the floor, unsure of what to say in response.

It took him a few moments, but the only words that came out from his mouth were "okay."

"God, this is embarrassing," Nico laughed, burying his face in his hands and heaving a sigh.

Leo glanced at him and for a moment they were both just standing there awkwardly, blushing and trying not to laugh at each other.

"Okay," Leo said again.

"So?" Nico asked, flustered.

"So, does this mean, uh, what I think it does?"

"I think so?"

"And you're completely fine with this?"

"Yes."

"That was, unexpected."

Nico blushed, and an awkward silence hung between them, before Nico decided to break it.

"For how long have you noticed?" he asked nervously.

"Since the moment I first saw you entering my classroom," Leo replied, blushing.

"And, uh, for how long have you- uh- felt like this?" Nico asked again.

"Probably from the same moment."

"Okay."

Another awkward silence.

"So, now what?" Nico finally said, breaking the silence again.

"Now- uh, do you wanna come over to my house?" Leo asked nervously.

Nico's eyes met the floor, as he felt the heat on his face intensify.

"Okay," he muttered after a few moments, finally looking up from the floor and meeting Leo's gaze.

Leo was smiling shyly, before offering Nico his hand.

* * *

"So this is your house," Nico said, eyeing the place with interest.

"Yeah well, it's not much, but, yeah," Leo nodded, shutting the door behind him.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," Nico laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Leo's place was an apartment like the usual suburban living area you'd expect. It was clean and wasn't messy, but not exactly too neat either. Bright green paint decorated the walls, and Leo had a sofa in the corner of the room with a television. A few bookshelves and a small dining table, a doorway that lead to a kitchen at the back and two doors that probably were supposed to have bedrooms behind them. There was also a sliding door that lead out to a small balcony on one side of the walls in the living room.

The curtains weren't draped around the sliding door, so Nico could see the view outside from where he stood, and he found it brilliant. The city hustled on down below, and buildings stood tall in the distance. Although the apartment was small, there was something that gave him a warm feeling about it, and he guess he could say that Leo was right; it wasn't much, but it was nice.

Nico walked over to the other side of the room, where a radio was perched on one of the bookshelves, and found Leo's collection of music albums. He glanced at Leo, grinning.

"Let's take a look at the shit you have here, shall we?"

"Shut up," Leo laughed, rolling his eyes as he plopped himself down onto the sofa.

"Radiohead, The Strokes, The Smiths, Oasis, The Vaccines," Nico paused, glancing at Leo.

"Heck, I expected it," he said, shaking his head. He continued to look.

"Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Empire of the Sun, Relient K," and he paused again, eyebrows raised, laughing.

"_Vampire Weekend?_"

"Oh god, shut up," Leo laughed, burying his face in his hands.

"But, _Vampire Weekend_, really now?"

"Shut up, Nico."

Nico was still laughing as he shook his head, taking out one of the CDs from its case and popping it into the radio.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Leo called out, but Nico ignored him, pressing the "play" button. The music had already started to play when Nico sat himself down beside him.

"The Strokes, really?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"God, your taste in music is shit."

"Excuse me, but I think I know the difference between decent music and actual shit."

"Well, you're wrong."

Leo only rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

"Wait, I need to text my sister," Nico said, coming to a sudden realisation that Bianca might get worried again if he didn't tell her where he was.

"Okay." Leo was drumming his fingers on his knees as Nico took out his phone and typed out a message to Bianca.

"So, tell me about your sister," he said, trying to make casual conversation.

Nico glanced at him, scoffing.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I barely even know much about you."

"Knowing stuff about my sister doesn't make you know me better."

"Still...Why not?"

"What, you'd be interested in dating her if you found out she was hot or something?" Nico teased.

"No, I'm- shit- that's not what I meant. Of course I'm not!" Leo said, blushing.

"Calm down. I was joking," Nico laughed.

"You're such a pain in the ass," Leo said tonelessly.

"Then why did you even invite me to come over to your house?"

"I don't know. I like being in your presence."

"Well, I do too."

There was a brief silence between them, putting aside the music playing in the background, before they glanced shyly at each other, blushing.

"God, this is so awkward," Nico finally said, breaking the tension.

"Yeah. So tell me about your sister," Leo teased.

"Shut up."

"Why?"

"'Cause I don't want you to think about my sister."

"Why? Would you be _jealous_?"

"Maybe."

At that point, Nico felt his face grow hot. He glanced away from Leo, but he could tell that Leo was trying hard not to grin as much as he was.

"I'm sorry," Leo teased again.

"Don't be."

They glanced at each other, smiling shyly, both flustered with cheeks as red as bricks.

"You're blushing, you know," Nico said.

"Shut up."

His heart was hammering hard against his chest, and he felt himself trembling. He wanted to kiss Leo so badly, it was making him ache. But he was too afraid, and he was too vulnerable no matter how hard he tried to act like he wasn't. He set his eyes on Leo's face, absorbing every single inch of it.

Leo wasn't flawless, Nico knew, but as cheesy as it felt, everything about Leo felt perfect to him the way it was. His stupid jokes that weren't supposed to be funny yet still made Nico laugh, and his dumb, raspy voice, and the way his lips formed into a smirk, and the tenderness of his skin which he was only inches away from touching. Nico could see every single particle of imperfection on Leo's face, and yet, he still wanted him. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, anyway. All that mattered was the feeling inside his gut that he got when he looked at Leo's face.

"You know," Leo said, shyly. "You can kiss me if you want to."

So Nico did.

He leaned in and kissed Leo on the lips, trying not to act awkward, as he placed one hand on Leo's cheek, and the other in his hair. Leo had steadied himself by leaning his back against the sofa, gripping Nico's shoulders as gently as he could.

They sat like that, kissing each other, temporarily forgetting the existence of the universe, with the music playing in the background. Nico couldn't comprehend how he felt about it.

But he knew that it had felt exactly like how he imagined it to be, every time he used to daydream about "Professor Valdez". It was so much different from when Percy kissed him, he couldn't even think of anything in comparison to what he was feeling right now. The thrill of a daydream brought to life almost felt like a delusion.

The taste of the touch spread out from his lips to his entire body, paralyzing his ability to think about anything else, except for the fact that he was _actually kissing Leo Valdez_. His skin was burning and his heart was melting, but it didn't matter. It was everything he hoped to be, and he had never felt more elated in his life than he had been in that very moment. Even elation, probably wasn't enough to describe how he thought he felt.

When Nico finally pulled away, he was flustered, and his hair was a mess.

"Oh my god," he breathed, eyes wide in a state of ecstasy, as though he couldn't believe what had actually happened.

"I've been wanting to do that for a really long time."

"Me too," Leo said, dumbfounded, with a crooked smile plastered across his face.

They exchanged glances, laughing, before Leo couldn't help himself from kissing Nico again.

* * *

Nico didn't keep track of how long they were making out on the sofa, but when he finally pulled away, it was because he felt his phone vibrate from a text message, which he had a feeling that it was from Bianca.

"What the hell?" Leo asked, confused at Nico's suddenness. They were right in the middle of a full lip locking session, when Nico had literally pushed him away, acting as though something terrible had happened. Nico stared at Leo, wide eyed, unsure of what he had just done.

"Shit, I'm- I'm sorry. Leo. Hold on, I think my sister texted me," he said, reaching out for his phone.

"You didn't have to push me like that, you know."

"I know, I'm sorry. I kind of panicked. I've- I've never made out with anyone before."

"I can tell," Leo laughed.

Nico glared at him, playfully slapping him on the shoulder, before laughing to himself. He checked the inbox on his phone, and his assumption was right; it was Bianca. And she had said something that made him regret every single thing he'd done with Leo today.

_Whatever you do, just don't disappoint me again, _the text message read.

Immediately, Nico felt a rush of dread spread all over him, as he let out a sigh of despair.

"Why, what happened?" Leo asked, concerned.

Nico shook his head.

"It's... it's nothing. Okay. I'm sorry. I have to leave now," he sighed, avoiding Leo's gaze as he got up from the sofa and walked over to get his school bag.

"What? Just like that? Nico, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, okay, I'll just... see you tomorrow or something, I have to go," Nico called out, making his way towards the door.

"Wait!" Leo called out. "At least give me your phone number?"

Nico nodded, sighing, as Leo got up and pulled out a notepad and pen from the drawer of the coffee table before handing it to Nico.

He scribbled down a few digits onto the paper, before handing it to Leo, blushing. "Dude, just tell me what happened?" Leo asked, frowning.

"Nothing happened. Don't worry about me, please," Nico sighed, still avoiding Leo's gaze.

"Nico-," Leo began with a sigh, but Nico cut him off.

"I'm sorry, I have to go, okay?" he said, and for a moment when Nico looked up from the floor and glanced at Leo's face, they just stood like that, frowning at each other.

"Can I hug you?" Nico asked, trying to lighten things up.

"Thought you'd never ask."

* * *

When Nico pulled away, he frantically said "bye," as Leo nodded in response; catching one last sight of Nico glancing at him before the door was pulled shut. He was deeply worried about what went wrong when Nico had received the text from Bianca, but he dared not to ask. Instead, he just saved Nico's number in his phone and walked over to the kitchen, opening the fridge before grabbing a bottle of orange juice and taking a swig, trying to forget whatever that had just happened.

Meanwhile, Nico, on the other hand, was making his way home, upset with himself about the mess he had just made. He knew Bianca didn't mind him hanging out with Leo, but he had a bad feeling about it. He liked Leo a lot, and he liked being with Leo, but he was just afraid that he would screw things up and get the both of them hurt in the end.

He was running away from what he had always wanted, for no legitimate reason, and confusing Leo, and even _himself_ with his behaviour. And although he knew that Leo clearly returned his feelings for him, he was just so confused; he didn't know what the hell he was doing, and he didn't know what to do either.


	9. Chapter 8

"Nico?" Bianca said, looking up from the papers clutched in her hands. She was sat at the dining table, going through the bills that had just arrived.

"Hey," Nico responded dryly, shutting the door behind him.

"Didn't expect you to be home so early."

"Yeah, well, after you sent me the text, I- I don't know."

She frowned at him.

"So, you were at Leo Valdez's house?"

Nico nodded, taking a seat beside her at the table. He buried his face in his hands and heaved a sigh.

Bianca eyed him for a moment, worried. She had a feeling that something big had just happened. It took her a while to finally make a deduction.

"You kissed him, didn't you?" she sighed.

Nico looked up at her and nodded. Right now he wasn't sure about how he felt about the kiss.

"Oh god, Nico."

Nico only frowned in response.

"How did that even happen?" she sighed, burying her face in her hands.

"I don't- I, I don't know."

"Three days- three_ freaking_ days! Three days after casually getting to know each other and you somehow _kissed_ him?" she cried.

"I don't know how it happened!"

"How did he even- oh god- how did you even end up-," but she stopped mid sentence because she was too shocked to continue.

"Bianca- I- I don't know, okay? He suddenly told me that it was pretty obvious, and I don't know what- it just- it just happened!" he protested.

"He's a teacher, Nico," she sighed disappointedly.

"I don't care."

"Look, I know you-," she began, but Nico had gotten up from his chair and stopped her before she could continue.

"No. I'm not gonna talk about it. Forget it, okay?" he sighed, making his way to his room.

"Nico, just _listen_-," but she never got to finish her sentence because Nico had slammed his bedroom door shut, making her sigh in frustration.

* * *

Lying down on his bed, Nico frustratedly tried to contemplate his current situation. He didn't know what he was feeling. Physically, it was like a wrench in the gut, every time Leo came across his mind. Emotionally, well, he wasn't sure either.

He had wanted to kiss Leo for as long as he could remember, and today he finally did. And Leo actually kissed him back. But he wasn't so sure if he was capable of the emotional burden that the entirety of it yielded. Leo was a teacher. He'd be spending years of his life, teaching other students, and meeting other people. Nico would be only one of the thousands of faces that Leo had once memorized. It wouldn't matter in the end.

Nothing would matter in the end.

Leo was a lover, a lover of things and people and life. He radiated happiness and the very essence of life itself spilled out of his every pore. Even his presence brought warmth to the coldest of colds. He was too kind, too innocent, too busy existing in other people's lives and making them feel loved. Even most of the teachers and students liked him for his humour and gentleness. He had made a lot of people happy, and he would continue to till his final breath because that was the way he was made to be. He was a lover and he was loved.

And Nico was a hater. A hater of himself and his life and the very idea of life itself. He found no meaning in existence. Never fitting in, never feeling accepted, never finding comfort in the presence of proximity regardless of who it was. The fact that he found that if he lived or die wouldn't affect anyone was just enough proof. He always pushing other people away, thinking it as 'an act for the greater good'.

They were complete opposites, and it was stupid. All of it was just so stupid, because there would be a time when Leo would move on with life and Nico would still be living in a moment that had passed nearly ten years ago.

And there would be a day where Leo would wake up beside a beautiful girl, or a guy he loved. He'd kiss her or him every day, and they'd grow old together. He'd travel to all the places he'd always wanted to see, and he'd continue to meet new people, making them happy and bringing them meaning.

And Nico, Nico would probably still be alone. Still alone, still cold, and still pushing people away. Pushing them away meant not getting close, because getting close would mean getting hurt. And he was afraid of hurting them like how he hurt himself. His thoughts constantly consumed him till the outlines were blurred between fantasy and reality. He needed to find a way to paint them, to find them again. To guide himself back to where things were okay. He needed them to not stray away and remain in safe territory, but he didn't know how.

* * *

His face was still buried in his pillow when he got snapped back to reality at the vibration of his phone in his pocket.

Expecting it to either be Leo Valdez, or some stupid telco provider company promotion, he actually hoped that it was the latter, because he still needed time to think of where he stood in Leo's eyes amongst all the other faces those eyes have laid upon.

His heart sank at the sight of the text message on his screen.

_Hey Nico,it's Leo. How are you feeling? _

Nico sat there for a moment, unsure of what to reply. After a few seconds, he finally typed out one word, and hit 'send'. One word, that wasn't sufficient, but at least almost close to what he felt. One word- _confused_.

About half a minute later, another text came in.

_Confused? About what? _

"About you, you asshole," Nico thought, realising only a few seconds later that he had said it out loud. Before anything else could happen, he received another text.

_Do you wanna talk on the phone? _

He replied with "okay" faster than he could think.

The phone started to ring a few seconds later, and he immediately answered the call.

"Hello, Nico?"

That was it. That was just it. The sound of Leo's voice on the other end of the line was enough to make him forget whatever he was just thinking about only minutes ago. It filled him with a wave of emotions he couldn't comprehend, and the back of his throat went dry, momentarily losing the ability to form actual words.

He shook himself out of it.

"Uh, hi," he paused, unsure if he wanted to say it out loud. The feel of Leo's name on his lips had now made him feel somewhat guilty. But he said it anyway.

"Hi, Leo," he said, more confidently this time.

"So, what happened?"

"Listen," Nico sighed, forcing himself not to break down.

"I'm listening." Leo's voice sounded like he was grinning in an attempt to lighten things up. But Nico in no way found it reassuring.

"Okay, uh, Leo, I have- I- I need to say this, I-," he paused, gathering up his almost nonexistent confidence.

"Nico, calm down."

"I- I'm sorry. I'm gonna say it, and promise me you'll let me finish before you say something else."

"Okay."

Nico sucked in a breath.

"Leo- Professor Valdez, I'm- I'm sorry for kissing you. Sorry for being so vulnerable, and stupid, and incautious. None of this should be happening, you're a teacher, and this just feels so wrong. So I'm sorry, again, just- can we forget about last Friday and today and every single thing because I'm just so confused, I'm unsure, and I'm going to screw up. So I don't want to be your friend, I don't want to kiss you, I never want to talk to you again. I'm just, so so sorry. I have to do this. Please, please, just don't look at me during History lessons, and never talk to me again."

Nico was at the verge of tears. He had no idea what he was doing. But he knew it was better to be it off like this, rather than getting attached to Leo, and eventually having to let go, anyway. It was only a matter of time.

_This is only a stupid crush,_ he reminded himself. He knew that feelings weren't permanent, and that they could fade away. He hoped to god that this would be over as soon as possible, and he hoped that he would never feel feelings as intense as this for someone else later on in his life.

Leo had remained silent. The tension hung thick and threatening. They could hear each other's breaths, both equally confused and devastated by the suddenness of the situation.

Finally, after a long pause, Leo said, "okay."

And he sounded like he had swallowed a mouthful of poison.

Nico waited for a few seconds, unsure of what to expect next, but the line went dead with a dreadful click.

* * *

He laid back his head on his pillow and closed his eyes, clutching the phone to his chest as he felt a wave of incomprehensible emotions stir up in the pit of his gut. He waited for the tears, but they did not come.

He had done what he had thought was the most reasonable of all options, but yet it felt so wrong. Maybe he shouldn't have done that. Maybe he should've just taken a reckless chance. He didn't know, and he acted like he didn't want to know, but he was obvious to the fact that he was in denial.

He wanted to sleep. He didn't care if it was only six in the evening. At that moment, he didn't care about anything. All he needed was sleep. He wanted to be temporarily swept away from the burden of the world and just fall into a dark, empty void. He forced himself to fall asleep, because sleeping was his only escape.

It took him some time to finally drift off, finding it hard to put his troubled mind to rest, but he managed it after a while.

And his consciousness flickered off with a final thought of Leo Valdez on his mind, unsure if it was relief, regret, anger or disappointment. Maybe it just was all of them at once. Or maybe it was something else, maybe it was love.

But he tried to convince himself otherwise, because love was dumb and he didn't believe in love.

* * *

AN: Holy hell, I'm sorry. I really am. As some of you might have already known, a few days ago I had actually uploaded chapter 8 and 9. But I published it in a rush, and kinda had no time to rethink the plot and stuff, so yeah. I reread those chapters after that and realised how shitty it was, especially the part on character development. So I deleted them and rewrote them.

Update: this fic is definitely gonna contain more than 10 chapters. Probably around 15 or more, but less than 20? I still don't know. But also less frequent updates because of ... [hisses] school. I just started the day after New Year's and I'm already busy with a shitload of stuff. So, excuse me.

Irrelevant information: I'm kinda planning to draw a bit of art for this fic and upload it onto my tumblr but I'm still unsure about it.


	10. Chapter 9

"_Shit_," was the first word that came out of Nico's mouth when he woke with a start the next morning. Bianca was rapping on his door, calling out, "Nico, are you ready to leave?"

He sat upright, blinking blearily in confusion for a few moments, running a hand through his messy hair.

"What?!" he yelled sleepily, still in somewhat a stupor.

"Are you ready to leave? For school, Nico?"

Nico frowned, reaching over for his phone to take a look at the time.

_7.45 a.m. _

It was 7.45 in the morning and he was going to be really, really _late_.

He had slept for nearly twelve and a half hours, falling asleep in his jeans around six something the previous night, unintentionally skipping dinner, and not bothering with homework.

"Shit, shit, shit, oh my god, shit," he panicked, getting up from the bed and frantically running towards his closet, grabbing whatever clothes he could change into as quickly as possible.

"Nico?!" Bianca called again, worried.

"Hm-oh, yeah! It's- I'm fine, give me five more minutes!"

"You're gonna be late if we don't leave now!"

"Yeah-just- hold on!"

Nico didn't even bother changing into a new pair of trousers. He took off his shirt, throwing it onto the floor before putting on a new one, at first realising at the very last second just before pulling it over his head that it was inside out.

When he finally got changed, he made a run to the bathroom, running the tap on the sink at its maximum, splashing all the water he could onto his face. Bianca had stopped rapping on the door by the time he was brushing his teeth, and when he had finally combed his hair, he picked up his bag from the floor and slung it over his shoulder before finally running out of his room to find his sister waiting in the living area with a cold stare.

He was panting slightly, but said nothing nevertheless.

"Are you ready to leave now?" she asked.

Nico nodded, following her out the door.

"Tell me exactly what happened last night," Bianca said colourlessly, as soon as she had driven her car out of their driveway. Her eyes were fixated on the road, and her mouth was pressed like how it always was whenever she seemed slightly angered.

Nico opened his mouth to protest, but decided otherwise.

"Go on," she urged.

"Why do you need to know?" he said, annoyed at her being so insistent.

"I'm not gonna let you skip your dinner and mess up your sleep again."

"Whatever."

"Just tell me whatever the hell that happened with you and that imbecile history teacher of yours."

"Don't call him that!"

Bianca sucked in a breath.

"Nico, you're going to end up in so much trouble if you keep it going!"

"Look- I told him to not talk to me again, okay, Bianca? I swear!"

Bianca sucked in a breath.

"Nico, you're going to end up in so much trouble if you keep it going!"

"Look- I told him to not talk to me again, okay, Bianca? I swear!"

Bianca didn't say anything, waiting for her brother to continue.

"I talked on the phone with him last night and we agreed to not talk to each other anymore- and, I- ugh-if you don't believe me, then fine," he sighed frustratedly.

Silence immediately filled the space, and the tension hung thick. Nico prayed for his sister to not say anything that would make it worse.

Finally, after a while, Bianca looked at him and frowned.

"Okay," she said glumly.

"Please, can we never talk about this again?" Nico sighed.

Bianca nodded, her eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and anger towards her brother, which she tried hard not to feel, and her mouth softened up into a slight smile.

"I love you, Bianca," Nico said, his voice breaking. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew he needed to say that to her and get it off his chest.

"I love you too."

She looked at him and broke into a slight laugh, stroking his head.

"Don't cry."

Nico nodded, pushing her hand away.

Bianca's eyes turned to face the road once again, and the silence returned immediately, as though their conversation had never even happened.

* * *

When Nico arrived at school, he frantically made his way to the classroom, 10 minutes late for first period, which was, unfortunately, History.

He knocked on the door, immediately greeted by the stares of the kids in the classroom as soon as he set foot in with the door shutting behind him.

Leo Valdez had abruptly stopped talking midsentence, and Nico noticed him flush slightly, before he regained himself merely seconds later.

"Why are you late, Mr di Angelo?" he said in a levelled voice.

Nico immediately felt his knees go weak. He stood there, flustered, shaking his head. "I- uh- it's- nothing," he stammered, eyes glued to the floor in embarrassment.

"Sit down," Leo said dryly.

Nico nodded, walking towards the chair where he usually sat, right at the front, eyes still fixated on the ground.

He sat down without a word and began taking out his books, before the lesson continued to go on as usual.

Nico found it so hard to concentrate, he felt like his head was about to explode. He needed space, and he needed to be alone to sort out his thoughts and feelings.

Instead, what he got was a slap on the face merely hours after Leo had hung up the phone.

Nico was the last student to file out of the classroom when the lesson had finished. Just as he was about to slam the door shut, he forced himself to work up the guts to talk to Leo again, unsure of his own intentions.

He paused, turning back to look at Leo who was sat at the front desk, apparently typing out something on his laptop.

"Professor Valdez," Nico called out, trying to die down his slight tremble.

Leo looked up from his computer and eyed Nico sadly.

"Will you be at the library during lunch?" Nico asked.

Leo paused, biting his lower lip, frowning.

"Will you?" he finally said.

Nico frowned, unsure of what to respond with.

Their eyes met momentarily, both wondering if saying something else would be necessary.

Nico quickly averted his gaze, and heaved a small sigh.

"I don't know," he said, before shutting the door and making his way down the hallways, not wanting to see the look on Leo's face that he would try so badly to hide if Nico had stood there longer enough.

* * *

The next few lessons went on as usual, though Nico still found it hard to concentrate at times.

When the bell finally rang signalling the start of the lunch period, Nico made his way to the library like he usually did, considering that he had been doing it for nearly all his high school life.

But just as he was about to push the doors open and set foot on the clean carpeted floors, he thought otherwise, and paused, unsure of what to do.

He could go in, as usual, but he had a feeling that Leo would obviously be there, and all he wanted was to get as far away as physically possible from him.

So he stood there for a good 5 minutes, leaning against the wall, unsure if he should just go in and sit somewhere visibly obscured from Leo's sight, or work up all the guts he had and walk into the school cafeteria that he had twice only ever set foot in.

And then, as though on cue, Luke Castellan and his group of friends had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, passing by and catching sight of Nico standing there awkwardly.

"Nico?" Luke asked, half laughing.

"Hey," Nico said shyly.

"What are you doing there?"

Nico shook his head.

"Aren't you planning on eating lunch?"

"Yeah-I'm- I'm just-,"

"Do you wanna sit with me?"

Luke stared at him with concern, and was smiling a sincere, genuine smile.

Nico was speechless. He hadn't expected this to ever happen. Sure, Luke had been nice to him and they had hung out on Friday and all, but having lunch with the most popular kid in school and sitting down at a table full of popular kids wasn't an offer someone got often.

Nico opened his mouth to speak, but he was too intimidated for words to come out. He glanced anxiously at Luke's group of friends. Ethan Nakamura was exchanging smirks with the twins, Travis and Connor Stoll.

Luke let out a laugh.

"Dude, what are you so afraid of?"

Nico shook his head again, regaining himself.

"I- uh- sorry, it's nothing," he blushed.

"So, are you gonna have lunch with us or not?" Luke glanced at his friends briefly before meeting Nico's face again.

"Y-yes. Okay. Yes, please."

Luke grinned, cheerfully patting him on the back, before gesturing for him to walk with them.

Nico followed, unsure if he had made the best or worst decision in his entire life.


End file.
